What We Live For
by starships fly
Summary: King Metalicana's disappearance leaves behind two things in particular, an orphaned peasant girl battling for her life, and a young prince who can barely find the urge to continue his. A single childhood offer can change that for the both of them. He'll offer her protection while she'll try to put some warmth into his cold iron heart.
1. Fleeing the Flames

Levy was going to die.

She had no doubt about it now. She was going to die alone, she was going to be devoured by flames until not even her bones remained. Or have her throat cut out before she could even have the chance to breath. At the age of ten, she was going to leave this world. Outside she could hear nothing but the sounds of screams and cries of battle as men, women, and children were slaughtered mercilessly. Sometimes, she could even hear the sounds of hooves thundering just outside her family's root cellar.

She could see the smoke now. At first it was barely a small wisp but soon it became an abundant gray cloud that slithered under the root cellar's door and seemed to purposely snake towards her, filling her lungs and making her gasp and sputter. No doubt the fire had finished off her house, and the bodies of her already dead parents. And had now come to claim her with it's fiery hands.

She found it somehow ironic. Her mother had screamed at her to go hide while the soldiers slit her father's throat and threw flaming torches into their home. Her mother had probably thought that the root cellar would become Levy's haven, shielding her from the soldiers and their flames. Instead, it would become her cell, trapping her until the fire finished her off, and then it would be her grave.

Levy didn't want to die, she didn't want the last thing she would ever see to be the inferno's unforgiving flames. She didn't want her last thoughts to be of her father with his throat slit, blood trickling down his neck like a river. And her mother surely being devoured by flames.

She made her way towards the door, barely even able to open her eyes through the smoke. She reached out a shaking hand to grasp the handle, her fingers wrapping around the ring. Excruciating pain and heat had her immediately snatching her hand back and clutching it to her chest.

It was so _hot!_

She broke off into a fit of coughs as the smoke somehow got even thicker, choking her and making her almost keel over. She wasn't going to die like this, no way! She grabbed onto the ring and, despite the horrific pain, swung the door open only to be met by a wall of red flames.

She gasped and stepped back. There was no way she could possibly make it through that, she thought hopelessly. She watched in horror as the flames crawled forward, licking at the walls and floor and casting them ablaze. Though in between the flames, Levy could just make out the snow covering the ground and even a sliver of night sky. For the first time that day, Levy felt a small amount of hope no bigger than that sliver of night. The fire couldn't have been very thick if the outside was visible. If she could run through it, there was a chance she wouldn't die and could roll in the snow before any major burning took effect.

Holding her hand over her mouth and nose, Levy charged through the flames, the red blaze swallowing her whole being. The heat was worse than she could have ever imagined. She felt like when she had grabbed the handle, only all over her body and worse because she had been able to at least pull her hand away, but there was no pulling back. There was only pressing on or complete certain death.

She almost cried in relief when she came out of the flames. No! No time for that! She rushed over to the bank of snow and threw herself into it, rolling onto her stomach and back, rubbing it on her arms and legs and her face and neck. For an instant she wondered if she even had any hair left, or had the fire burned it all away? She ran her hand up her neck and felt an almost strange happiness when her fingers brushed against her hair, gathering it into a fist. She glanced down at it. It was matted and the ends were charred but it was still there.

She had burns on both her arms and legs. She quickly decided that the worst one was on her shin. The first layer of skin had been burned away and the skin underneath was flaming red. The stench burned her nose and made her queasy. This was nothing like the smell that Levy had craved when her father brought home a rabbit or bird, or even a hunk of pork on special occasion. The smell alone of the cooked meat had made Levy's mouth water and stomach moan, but the terrible fetor of burnt flesh made her stomach moan in a separate way all together!

Levy gazed at the scene around her. Almost every house was engulfed in flames, which cast an almost ghostly light on the snow. The roads, where only this morning she and her friends had ran around and merchants shooed them away from their stands and shops, were now littered with bodies, and the men who had come were celebrating their victory near a bonfire in the village's center. Levy felt her stomach flip. The stench of blood and burnt flesh was overwhelmingly sickening. The amount of smoke she inhaled was no help either. She bent over onto her knees, retching over and over.

She stood on her shaking legs, fatigue threatening to take over her small form. She winced at the pain in her shin and stumbled forward, gasping at the pain in her feet, no doubt also horribly burned from sprinting through the flames. She staggered towards the woods, just across the road. She nearly slipped on a pool of blood that had gathered next to a fallen man, who was still clutching a pitchfork he undoubtedly had used in hopes of protecting himself.

Reaching the first tree she pressed her hand against it. Bad mistake. The rough bark scraped against her burns and her hand was engulfed by pain. She drew it back and had to bite her tongue to keep from crying out.

"Have all of the villagers been done away with?"

Levy gasped when she heard the voices. She spun around and saw two men making their way down the street. One was a soldier, she recognized the similar armor and the strange insignia on the breastplate. The other was, well, definitely _not_ a soldier . He had a purple robe on, and a strange hat similar to that of a witch's. And his face, Levy could tell even from the treeline it was ugly.

She stepped behind the tree, praying that it would keep her hidden until the men passed. Who were these men? Why had they burned down her village?

"Sir we've checked all of the houses, all of the village inhabitants are either already dead, or being dealt with by the fire as we speak." the soldier reported.

Levy felt herself shivering as the other man chuckled. "Very good, make sure we leave a clear warning for Metalicana."

Levy's eyebrows shot up. Had he just said Metalicana? Could His Majesty have something to do with this? Was this some sort of vendetta? Had he done something to anger these men? She knew very little about His Majesty. He rarely seemed to go anywhere but his palace and the battlefield, as far as she aware. She had heard stories about him being known to defeat one hundred armed soldiers without any armor or weapons. Or that he had openly accepted any declaration of war from even the greatest, and most feared countries, and have declared victory within the week. She had loved those stories, but there was no way they could be true. Or were they? Had these men come to declare war to discover for themselves what true terror was behind the name Metalicana?

There was a grunt behind her, and before she could she could even turn to see the sound's owner, a fist had forced itself into her hair, tangling it's fingers with her strands and nearly lifting her off her feet.

She screamed and sobbed, kicking her feet out towards her attacker and trying desperately to yank his fingers up. The man seemed to simply shrug it off and Levy found herself being dragged towards the two men up ahead.

She whimpered as she was dragged in front of the man in purple. He looked even more horrendous up close. With beady eyes and a long, pointed nose. He looked exactly like a rat!

"My, what do we have here?" came a sickeningly sweet voice, a sneer spreading across his face. He reached out a gloved finger to run down the side of her cheek. "Did a little bird escape her fiery cage" he murmured, softly chuckling at his own joke.

Levy tried to squirm away from the man, only to have her hair yanked harder. She whimpered and tears slid down her cheeks.

"Oh, my dear, there's no need for your tears," he cooed, brushing them away with his thumb. "In fact, you're going to help me." His hand suddenly clenching her jaw painfully, forcing her eyes into his. "You see, my little bird, I need you to deliver a message to your king." He said, his other hand moved towards his belt, unsheathed a dagger, and thrust it forward until it was a mere inch from Levy's eye. Levy cried out, struggling to get away from the blade, more tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Pay close attention."


	2. Hunting in the Woods

The second chapter has been completed! Oh my god that took longer than I thought it would, but I'm so glad it's done :) Sorry for it being a little late and not very long. I've had an extremely busy week and haven't been able to write _nearly_ as much as I want to. It's gonna be longer next time, I promise. Don't forget to review and tell me your opinion of the story! Please Enjoy!

I FORGOT THIS PART LAST TIME :( :( :( :( _I'm so embarrassed! (cries in corner of shame!)_

 _I am not worthy of claiming that I own Fairy Tail of any of it's beautiful characters, Hiro Mashima holds that great honor._

Gajeel was fed up with that knight.

He leaned further into his horse as it shredded through the frozen woods. Thundering down the trail and leaping over logs now covered in the frosty white powder.

Metalicana had only been missing for a month, and he was already behaving like his bloody father.

It was snowing now, tiny flakes that almost danced together in the wind, blowing straight into his face and shoving its icy fingers down his back. If he froze to death out here, Lily would more than likely just blame it on the fact that he hadn't brought a thick enough cloak.

Lily had told him to practice hunting, but there was no damn way any animal with any trace of sense was out in this cold. Besides, the wind messed with his senses, blowing scents around until it gave him a bloody headache. Once in a while he would get a whiff of something but before he could even decide what it was, much less its location and whether or not it was edible or if it could be skinned, the wind whisked it away.

 _Your father has been missing for a while now, Gajeel, as much as I regret saying this, we need to start assuming that the worst has happened. So until further notice you're going to have to pick up your father's duties until he can return. It's your responsibility as a member of the royal family, not to mention your father's sole heir._

His grip tightened on the reigns. Lily's words kept replaying themselves over and over in his head. He kept lecturing him on responsibility, yet treated him like a toddler who needed to be scolded by his mother. ' _Go freeze your ass off in the cold, Gajeel. Fix your sloppy defense stance, Gajeel. Don't rip the head off of Igneel's brat's body. I'm sure he didn't mean to burn down half a village with his bloody flamin' catapults.'_

"Bloody misfire my ass." he murmured.

He was just going to ride for a little more, and then go back. Not even Lily could put up a good argument if he told him he couldn't find anything; just as long as he'd spent an appropriate amount of time out. A strong scent of smoke hit him like a sword's pommel to the stomach, throwing him into a coughing fit.

How was there so much smoke? The only town wasn't for a little ways to the North. Besides, judging by the amount of smoke, the fire had to be quite large, and there's no way any sane villager would light such a large fire near a village. All it would take is a strong gust to blow it over near even one house, and it wouldn't take long for the whole place to start on-

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, _**shit!**_

Gajeel didn't know what it was but something was telling him to follow the scent. If his senses were right, which it usually was in situations that counted, then there was definitely something wrong. The closer he go to the village, the stronger the scent of smoke. And something else, an almost hidden scent that had confused him at first but now he was completely positive.

He was smelling blood.

He urged his horse faster, he could feel his shoulders tensing up as he got closer and closer. The smoke was visible now; whispering around the trees like some kind of haunted fog. The soft pale glow of the moonlight gave it an even more ghostly appearance.

He burst through the treeline only to be faced with what most would call 'a living Hell'.

Every single house was now on more than a mere pile of ash. Dead bodies littered the streets as if a horrendous plague that had hit full force upon the town. The stench of blood and smoke tainted the air, and cruel slash marks were visible in some of the dead bodies. It made even Gajeel's stomach uneasy.

He slipped his right foot out of the stirrup and swung himself off his mount, ignoring the 'splash' when his boot descended onto a pool of blood. He gathered the reins into his hand and made his way around. He knew it was a complete waste of time to look for survivors, but it would be worth it if he found out what dumbasses had decided to conjure up their own death wish by destroying this village.

Something caught the corner of his eye and he fixed his gaze on an oak tree a little ways to the East. He could make out the body of someone who'd been strung up and hung over one of it's branches. No, their hands were over there head, so they hadn't been hung, they'd just been tied up.

He made his way over to the tree and towards the body. The moonlight reflected off the strung up victim, so Gajeel could just make out her features. Yes, he was quite sure she was a girl with her slight build. She stank of blood and burnt flesh. She was unconscious, but he could just make out the faintest of heartbeats.

He stuck his foot into the tree, an audible 'click' was heard as his boot's spikes embedded themselves into the icy bark. He scaled up the tree and swung his legs over the sides of the branch. He bent down until his cheek nearly pressed against the wood and grabbed onto her wrist. He was surprised at how completely frozen her fingers felt against his skin. How the hell was this girl not dead yet?

Keeping a firm hold of her wrist, Gajeel used his free hand and unsheathed his dagger from his belt. He placed the dagger on the rope and began sawing back and forth in a grooving motion. He grunted as the last of the fibers gave way, and the girl's complete weight bent his back slightly. 'Good thing she's such a lightweight', he thought pulling her up towards him.

He pulled her up onto the branch and wrapped his arms around her to keep her balanced. Her head rested almost comfortably against the crook of his neck, and he could feel her heart weakly beating against his chest. He looked down, they were a good twenty feet above ground. The idea that he could jump down and escape injury would certainly be doubtful, even more so with a half dead girl in his arms, but it was definitely less humiliating than scooting backwards on his ass so he could climb down.

He sighed, screw it.

Drawing his feet to his thighs, he pressed his feet against the bark and pushed back until his back hit the trunk. He let go of her with one hand and stabbed the dagger into the trunk. He pushed off the the branch and slid down the side of the trunk.

When his boots hit the ground, he sheathed the dagger and hoisted her over his shoulder. Thankfully his horse hadn't run off while he'd been in the tree. He grabbed the horn of the saddle with his free hand and inserted his foot back into the stirrup, swinging himself back into the seat. He eased her off his shoulder in a position so her body was facing him, her head once again rested in the crook of his neck.

He urged his horse into a canter back into the woods, once they were back on the trail he pulled back into a walk. He stared down at the small girl; she couldn't have been more than eight with her tiny size. She had tiny cuts etched into her face, the largest was a cut on her forehead that was coated in dried blood. Other than those injuries, and the fact that she was cold as death, her skin was extremely soft and felt, surprisingly, good against his neck, if it weren't threatening to give him hypothermia. And her hair was, surprisingly, blue. Kinda like she was born out of a piece of sky. He smirked at the thought.

She started to make tiny whimpering sounds that sent chills down his neck. He shifted in his seat, who was this girl? And why the hell had she been the only one spared?

This question drifted in the back of his mind until they'd reached the front gates. There, in dim light of the torches scattered along the iron gate, he could dimly see a very displeased knight was positioned just outside, with a very unamused expression painted across his dark face.

"Where in the _hell_ have you been!" he outraged, marching over towards him. "What have I told you about wandering off- Gajeel, who is that?" his eyes had diverted from Gajeel, and had now locked themselves on the girl. "Gajeel, care to explain yourself?" his eyes locked on him once more, a scarred brow raised.

He met his amber gaze with red ones, "There's been an attack on one of the villages, she's the only one I found who hadn't been the slaughtered by the bastards."

Lily erased the distance between them with a few quick strides, snatching the girl off the saddle. "My god, he said, cradling her the way a mother might do for her newborn. "Is she even alive?"

"Yeah, I can hear her heartbeat; it's pretty damn weak, though."

He shifted the girl in his arms, his eyes not once leaving her. "Put the horse away, I'm taking her inside." He rushed off into the castle, leaving Gajeel to do as he was told.

He groaned and trotted into the now opened gates. He dismounted and handed the reigns to a wide eyed stable boy, who had just witnessed the whole scenario. "Don't ask." he murmured. The boy answered with a quick nod and clutched the reins in his pale hands.

He walked into the palace, his knew his boots were probably trailing in snow and blood onto the cobblestone floors, which the nurses would probably throw a collective fit about, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He rounded the corner into the Solar. Inside the girl was lying on a sofa while Lily poked at the wood of the fire.

Her burns were a lot more serious than he had originally assumed. Her shin, palm, and the bottoms of her feet were the worst, and she had several smaller burns on her arms and legs. And there was a lot of blood coming from her stomach, the cloth of her tattered dress was completely stiff with the stuff.

He reached down towards her stomach and held the fabric tightly with both hands. Ripping it from the top of her ribcage to her abdomen. He heard Lily step behind him, probably to cuff him over the head. "My god." He murmured under his breath. Gajeel felt his throat tighten.

This little girl had the Phantom Lord emblem carved into her stomach.


	3. You're Safe Now

**SURPRISE MY LOVELIES!**

 **I'm feeling very generous today, SOOOOOOOO I typed up an early chapter! As promised, it's a bit longer than my other ones (not super long though like I wanted but I can do that next chapter when I have lots more time), and I FINALLY know exactly how I want the story to work out! I mean I've known from the beginning, but it was kind of like those connect-the-dots games you get on a kid's menu. You know what the main events are and how the story finds out, but you still need to figure out all these details and stuff.**

 **Also, I would love to thank all of you for the support I have been receiving so far! I know I'm a far ways from becoming a good writer and you guys saying you like my work is enough to move me to tears! 3**

 **If you enjoy the story, or if you have any questions or suggestions on how to make the story better, then please write a quick review, or long if you want, because I live to please and it really does give me a lot of inspiration when you guys tell me what you think.**

PLEASE ENJOY! (so many ! because I want you to enjoy it that much)

I am not worthy of claiming that I own Fairy Tail of any of it's beautiful characters, Hiro Mashima holds that great honor.

* * *

Levy woke up in a bed that wasn't hers, and a in room she didn't recognize.

She was lying down in an old, scarlet four-poster bed. The room wasn't very big, but it was much nicer than anything she was used to. The area rug that covered most of the floor alone probably cost more than all of the furniture in her entire house. There was a small table and chair in the corner, and a stone fireplace directly across from her, and a blazing fire in it.

 _ **FIRE!**_

She gasped and sat up as quickly as she could. A searing pain in her stomach immediately made her regret the sudden gesture. She glanced down at her stomach. She felt her cheeks flush when she noticed that her ragged dress was gone. In it's place was a crisp, clean white nightgown. It felt extremely soft against Levy's tender skin, but she felt extremely embarrassed by the thought of anyone, other than her herself of course, changing her clothes!

She heard the door creak as someone entered and immediately straightened up. In the doorframe stood a young girl about a year older than herself. She was a very pretty girl, Levy noted; with dark midnight blue hair that fell down to her shoulders in large curls and quite possibly the palest skin Levy had ever seen in her entire life.

She wore a rather plain navy dress that fell to her shins and a white apron that hugged her hips like a second skin. She had a bowl of something hot and delicious smelling in her hands, and a bundle of linen bandages draped over her right arm.

"Juvia is very glad you're awake, miss," the girl - Juvia, was it? - smiled softly at her. "If you don't mind, miss, Juvia is going to need to change your bandages."

Levy nodded, the back of her neck tightened at the small gesture, and she realized that she had bandages wrapped around her head as well. "No, I don't mind one bit, ma'am." She answered back.

The girl smiled and placed the bowl on the table before coming over to sit beside her on the bed. She unbuttoned Levy's nightgown and had her face the wall so her back was turned to her as she undid the bandages. Levy felt thankful that the girl had made her face away from her. She hugged her arms over her bare chest and listened to the sound of Juvia humming as she worked.

"If you don't mind Juvia asking, miss, what's you're name?" Juvia asked, as she unwinded the last layers of bandage.

"Oh, I-I'm Lev-EEEH!" she squeaked as the last of the bandage, which had been plastered to her skin by dried blood, was ripped away quickly.

Juvia gasped. "Ah! I'm so sorry miss! I didn't mean to do it quite so hard; please forgive Juvia for her mistake!" the girl sounded so terribly sorry, Levy immediately felt horrid for squealing like that.

"No! No, it's alright, Juvia. I shouldn't have yelled like that, it just surprised me. I'm Levy, Levy Mcgarden." She smiled at her over her shoulder, prompting Juvia to return one.

"Um, where am I?" she asked turning back towards the wall.

"That's right, you were unconscious when Sir Lily brought you in, weren't you?" she replied, pressing a fresh bandage to her back and slowly wrapping it around her.

"Um, who's Sir Lily?" she felt the name was somehow familiar, but couldn't place it.

"Well, I suppose you would know him as Sir Pantherlily, he's not one for long names though, so we use 'Lily' as a bit of a nickname for him," Juvia said, continuing to wind up the bandages. "He's Metalicana's viceroy."

Levy nodded, her memory now jogged. "Isn't he also one of Metalicana's commanders? I remember reading a bit about him a while ago."

Juvia nodded and spoke cheerfully. "That's exactly right; he's actually Metalicana's best commander, though he'd never admit it, the stubborn man."

"So does that mean that I-I'm in the castle? I'm so sorry if I'm troubling any of you! I promise I'll leave as soon as possible!" she felt awfully embarrassed. All these people who were probably already busy beyond belief and here she was; a burden who took up more of their precious time.

"Please, Miss Levy, you're a guest, and a horribly injured guest at that. It's important that Miss Levy gets rest and lots of it. And when you've made a full recovery, and Juvia means _full_ , then we can talk about what arrangements must be made to ensure that you're safe and well-cared-for." Juvia soothed, trying to calm her down.

Juvia finished applying the fresh bandages on her stomach, and buttoned her back up. Levy noted that the Phantom Lord emblem was still clearly on her, but Juvia reassured her that even if it would probably scar, it wouldn't been very noticeable. She worked on her shin and forehead; unwrapping and rewrapping bandages, and was extremely careful not to rip them off if they were stuck to her wounds.

"Juvia has some food if Miss Levy is hungry." Juvia gestured towards the table in the corner.

Levy's mouth started to fill with saliva at an alarming rate, nearly drowning her teeth and tongue. She swallowed and nodded. She slipped off the bed to walk over to the table. As soon as her feet hit the floor a horrible pain consumed from her feet. She gasped and staggered, and probably would have landed on her face if Juvia hadn't reached out to grab her arm and pull her back onto the bed.

Levy's face flushed as red as the quilt in her embarrassment. Juvia smiled at her and went to bring her the food. Levy felt like such a child; could she do nothing without this girl's help. Juvia handed her the bowl and a small spoon. Levy took a small bite, and her hunger immediately began to multiply itself to the point where if she didn't eat more she thought she would surely die. She nearly inhaled the whole thing. It tasted of herbs Levy couldn't name, and she was sure she tasted oxtail in the meat.

"Um, Miss Levy, Juvia is sorry to ask but I'm just curious, why did Phantom Lord brand you?"

Levy choked on the last bite of stew, and Juvia rubbed her back comfortingly. "It's quite alright if you don't wish to talk about it, you've been through an awful lot."

But Levy actually did want to talk about it. There was something about this girl that made her want to tell her. She stared down at the empty bowl. "No, it's okay, Juvia. It's kinda nice having someone to talk to," she smiled at her. "I can tell you, if you really want."

* * *

 _The night of Phantom Lord's attack..._

Levy tried desperately to squirm away from the knife, but only succeeded in having her forehead slashed. Before she could even cry out, she was held to the ground by the man and she could feel him pulling her dress up. She cried and kicked her legs out, thrashing and desperately trying to get away. It was no use; these men were just too strong for her.

She screamed as she felt the knife meet the soft flesh on her stomach. She sobbed and begged the man to stop, but he and the others only answered her with cruel, sadistic laughs. The man began to draw the knife along her skin; making her scream even louder and cry even harder.

After a while, one of the men stuffed a foul tasting rag into her mouth which muffled her terrified screams into whimpers.

"Now, my dear," the man hissed into her ear in a sweet, sickening voice. "I want you to know that I have no plans to kill you, however there is no possible way I can promise you that you will live. Whether you perish from the blade of my knife or the cold of winter, it doesn't matter. However, if you do live I have a message for you to deliver to your king." He spat out the word, as if it left a vile taste in his mouth.

"Tell Metalicana that we are giving him five days to hand over the Kingdom of Kurogane to The Phantom Lord Legion. If His Majesty refuses to our terms then we will have no choice but to release our armies and take Kurogane by force." The words slithered out like venomous snakes from the man's mouth. Levy's eyes widened and the snarling man's lips curled into a sneer, a rather truly revolting sight.

He then told her about what a beautiful scream she had; how it sounded like the deaths of a thousand angels, and tore the foul rag from her mouth. He then continued to carve into her and, despite her desperate struggles to keep them concealed, screams tore themselves from her throat. When he had finished with her stomach, he started pressing the knife into the skin of her face. They weren't large incisions at all, but they were enough to make Levy whimper and cry harder than she ever thought possible.

The world started spinning; she couldn't see clearly and everything seemed to become blurry and disoriented. Even the pain was starting to fade; it was definitely still there but it had dulled into a sore numb instead of the horrible, excruciating agony she had been faced with. The corners of her eyes darkened, and she felt herself pulled into a horrible, dark unconsciousness.

* * *

When she finished telling Juvia, her voice was shaking and she wiped away the tears that stained her rosy cheeks.

Juvia gasped and covered her mouth. "You poor thing!" she cried through her fingers, looking rather close to tears herself. "Juvia is so sorry, Miss Levy, that's horrible!" she wrapped her arms around Levy's small form, pulling her into a comforting embrace.

Juvia held Levy for a few more moments before releasing, but she kept her hands on Levy's shoulders, keeping her at arm's length. "Juvia wants Miss Levy to know that she is safe now; no one is going to hurt Miss Levy anymore, alright?"

"Thank you, Juvia," Levy said, grabbing her back into a hug. "Thank you for helping me." She felt overwhelmingly grateful for this girl's comfort and sympathy. She let go of her brought her knees to her chest. "If it's alright I think I'd like to go to sleep now."

Juvia nodded and helped to tuck her in, almost like the way her mother used to do it; pulling the covers up over her tiny frame and give her shoulder a quick pat before walking out of the room.

She smiled to herself; she was in the palace! She had never even heard of any outsiders being allowed inside, and here she was; sleeping in one of the beds with a nice girl to look out for her. For such a horrible beginning, it had an almost bittersweet turnout. Her parents were gone her home was gone, but she was alive; and more importantly.

She was safe.

* * *

 _Juvia's POV_

Juvia closed the door behind her as quietly as she could before her hands immediately went to her back to untie the apron. How could any woman possibly stand one of these things! It was almost worse than wearing a corset. At least those tightened your whole waist and chest; while these torture devices only tightened where you tied them. So it meant you had to get it exactly or the thing bunched up by your chest or strangled you when you tried to sit.

She dropped the cloth unceremoniously on the floor and turned towards the door.

She felt badly for the small girl. She was so young, _too_ young to be put through anything like that. And the way her eyes had faded when she asked her about Phantom Lord's attack.

A short intake of breath brought her mind back. She spun on her heel to face the breath's owner; who was leaning casually against the stone wall underneath a tapestry, wearing his usual armor and a glare in his eyes that Juvia now accepted as 'normal' coming from Gajeel.

Juvia cocked an eyebrow and settled her hands on her hips. "Was there a specific reason Gajeel had Juvia do that instead of Gajeel himself."

Gajeel shrugged, his pauldrons clinking against his breastplate. "Last I checked, the whole point of having a spy is to get answers to questions you ain't got answers to," he paused and smirked at her. "And I never said you had to dress like a damn nurse."

Juvia snorted at him. "Juvia is going to assume that Gajeel was listening the whole time."

He grunted a 'yes' at her.

"And what does Gajeel plan to do about it?"

"I'm gonna rip open the bastards, and feed their own bloody entrails to them."

Juvia's eyes widened, "Gajeel plans to take on them all by himself?" even for Metalicana's son, and Gajeel was _definitely_ Metalicana's son, the idea of trying to take on a whole legion was a clear exaggeration of the word ambitious. 'Downright stupid, really,' she thought to herself.

His smirk quickly altered itself into a scowl. "Well what the hell would you have me do, Juvia. You heard what the runt said," he threw his arm up to gesture towards Levy's room. "I have five days to tell Jose what a bitch he is, or they're gonna release a whole army of bastards on Kurogane!"

"Juvia is quite aware of the situation, thank you, but is Gajeel sure that he should be heading off on his own? Phantom Lord may be despicable, but they have themselves in a rather good position as of now; or they wouldn't ever dared to threaten us. Next to the Raijinshuu, Phantom Lord Legion was the strongest legion in the Fioren continent.

Gajeel's lips reverted themselves back into a malicious grin, and his twin canines glowed dangerously in the dimly lit hallway. "Juvia, I would've thought you'd have learned by now; you should never underestimate the power of a dragon."


	4. Dragon's Rage

**HELLO EVERYONE!**

 **Yay! I'm finally getting the hang of this! I hope all of you enjoyed the last chapter! It was actually a lot of fun to write.**

 **Now before any of you grab your torches and pitchforks and lose all sense of your humanity because of your obsessive gajevy love (builds a wall and hides behind) I am SOOOO very sorry this update was late! I've been pretty busy and am having a tiny case of writer's block which I am trying to get over. I unfortunately am not going to be able to update as regularly as I want to from now on; I am starting high school soon and it's gonna be a lot of work to stay on top of things. Don't worry it's not like I'll only update it once a year or anything like that. I will update but it just might not be every week (probably every two weeks). I hope you all understand.**

 **Anyways, if any of you were confused about Juvia being a nurse/spy I'm going to try and clear that up. Gajeel told Juvia to find out what had happened to Levy (because he's trying to avoid any awkward moments between them) and Juvia decided to go for the subtle approach by pretending to be a nurse rather than just go in her room and start interrogating her.**

 **I really hope you guys are enjoying this fic, and remember, KEEP THE REVIEWS COMING! Don't be shy, I don't bite! (not a lot anyways) but it does really help if you guys offer your opinion. That way I can know what you like about the story and try to incorporate it into the story. Not to mention I find that it really motivates me to write when people do review; seriously if I get reviews I literally have like a HUGE urge to start writing, so it could lead to sooner updates.**

 **By the way, please ignore any spelling or grammar mistakes. I found some on last chapter and I am SO EMBARRASSED! (cries in Corner of Shame)**

 **NOW ONTO THE PART WHERE GAJEEL KICKS THE ASS OF JOSE PORLA!**

I do not own Fairy Tail or any of it's beautiful characters, Hiro Mashima has that great honor.

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Gajeel didn't even glance back at the bodies of the two dead guards; he didn't have to.

The scent of the blood was more than reassuring that they were both nothing but corpses on the filthy streets; blood streaming down their faces and necks like a river.

The scent of their fresh blood pierced the insides of his nostrils. Sending shivers of exhilaration down his neck and to his spine. It was a strange emotion; the incredible amount of contentment he felt when he spilled blood. The want to cause pain and prove he was stronger than any of his opponents. It was a trait he was sure he had inherited directly from Metalicana. It was a desire powerful enough to drive a man mad, but not Gajeel. He did more than just accept the incredible feeling of bloodlust coursing through his veins

He loved it.

He had been riding for almost two full days, his muscles were tense and he was freezing his ass off. Yet when he inhaled the scent of blood; it was all he needed for his muscles to relax and every one of his senses heightened like when a predator had finally discovered it's prey.

He stormed towards Jose's palace. Tapestries with the Phantom Lord insignia were hung just outside the palace gates. He tore one off and used it as a rag to carelessly wipe of the blood dripping from his sword, Karma Demon. While cleaning the edge of, he made a mental note to tear each of them to shreds after he was done with Jose.

He found his mind continuously returning to the shrimp and that messed up story she told Juvia. He wasn't sure why but hearing the things that Jose had done to her made his blood boil. Gajeel didn't mind making his enemies writhe in agony. Hell, he enjoyed it, but that kid hadn't been anyone's enemy. She was just a little girl who got dragged into a hellhole, and Jose had put her there. A smirk spread across his face.

Now it was up to him to return the favor.

He strode right through the courtyard, his boots crunching in the snow as he sheathed Karma Demon back into his belt. There were twelve doors that led out of the courtyard, and he didn't have a damn clue which led to Jose. Several maids were gathered in the garden, carrying baskets or He turned towards one of the maids, who had a basket of dirty guards uniforms in her arms. "Where is Lord Jose Porla?" he glared at her.

The woman stared owlishly at him and raised a shaking hand to point a bony finger at the third door. Gajeel didn't spare her a second glance as he strode over to the door, grabbed the brass ring handle and swung the door open so hard that the wood splintered against the stone walls.

He heard one of the maids squeak behind him at the sound of splintering wood. He didn't care, he only had one thing on his mind.

Jose Porla.

He was one of the Ten Saint Lords, the only lords in Fiore who ran their own country. They were ranked above most lords, but below the king and his family. Most lords remembered their place, that even though they did run their own country they still had to obey those who had given them lordship; Jose Porla was a different story.

Immediately after receiving his lordship he had built a large legion by taking over small cities and forcing all healthy men into his army that could rival the most powerful king in it's grand numbers. Using that army to threaten and intimidate, Jose became a lord of a pretty powerful country just outside of Kurogane. He had always carried a superior attitude even larger than his legion; Metalicana had talked about knocking his ass off his high horse but usually forgot about it.

As he reached the end of the hallway Gajeel found himself standing in the middle of the largest throne room he'd ever seen. Tall stone pillars crawled up the sides of polished walls reaching a massive ceiling overhead. Purple Phantom Lord banners were hung on the spaces between the marble floor led over to a small set up stairs which led up to a platform that held a giant stone throne, where the bastard himself was smiling down at him; slumped over to with his arm leaning casually off the side, fingers holding a goblet.

Guards stood around the throne; he counted seven on each side. They all turned their heads when Gajeel entered the room, several even drawing their swords, but Jose carelessly waved down at them.

"Now, now, this young man is our guest. It wouldn't be very fitting of a lord of my status to run a guest through like a wild pig."

"Gajeel," he purred, the words dripping like poisoned honey from his mouth, sending cold shivers down Gajeel's back. "I must admit I wasn't expecting you. I send a message to the mighty king and in return he sends his young son, perhaps those stories were mere tales; the mighty Metalicana is nothing but a coward who needs his child to fight his battles."

Gajeel returned the man's glare, his hand was practically itching to grab the hilt of his sword and ram it down Jose's throat, anything to shut him up, but he just balled it into a fist and pressed it to his side. "I assume you got my message," he continued in a slow, careless drawl. "Such a pretty little thing if I remember correctly, but I wouldn't be surprised if the cold finished her off not long after our little visit." He swirled around his goblet lazily, as if he couldn't even bring himself to care about attacking and slaughtering a village. "I assume that's why you've been sent here; you're father has agreed to my demands?"

"I wasn't sent here by anyone, bastard," he snarled up at the man, who sat up a little straighter in his seat in response of his angry tone. "Metalicana has been missing for the past month, but even if he were here, the answer would still be the same! And I am telling you that there is no _damn_ way that Kurgane would ever be handed over to you!" If looks could kill, Jose would've been burned to ash on the spot, but the man simply raised an eyebrow.

"Metalicana's missing, you say? Well that makes things even easier; now you have no choice but to agree to my demands!" he cried gleefully.

"What the hell makes you say that?" he asked. Hadn't the bastard just heard him tell him to screw off? "Metalicana may be gone but I sure as hell ain't; as long as I'm alive your ugly ass have no right to lay claim to Kurogane!"

Jose's lips quickly formed a scowl. "You dare insult me in my own castle, you little worm! My legion is far superior to yours, and you can't properly lead a country at your age. I could kill you where you stand and there would be no one who could defend Kurogane."

Gajeel snorted and returned his glower with a razor grin. "Actually, there are plenty of people other than you who could take my father's place; people who have a right to the throne. Lily is my father's viceroy, so I could probably let him rule right now until my eighteenth birthday. There's my aunt and uncles; Grandeeney, Weisslogia, Igneel, or Skiadrum. Same for their brats too. They all could take a shot at Metalicana's throne, they'd have some right to it. But I ain't gonna let it happen. I don't care what you say about my age or the size of my army, I'm taking my father's throne. But not until I've ripped you to shreds."

He drew Karma Demon and thrust it into the ground with enough force to crack the marble as if it were glass, he took great pleasure in watching Jose squirm in his seat. "I won't even need this," he said gesturing to the weapon. A smirk spread across his face. "I'll just use my bare hands." He pounded his own fist into his palm, cracking the joints.

Fear blossomed across Jose's face, but it was quickly replaced by moral outrage. "You little insect! Kill him you fools!" He threw out a bony finger towards Gajeel; hatred and disgust burning in his cold eyes. Every guard drew out their swords and advanced, but before they could even take a full step the sound of metal breaking froze them in their tracks.

A shiver that started in the small of Gajeel's back traveled across the skin; the sound of iron crackling in his ears as scales formed was enough to make him shudder. 'Shit, I've got to stop doing this in the winter', he thought as his skin hardened and his blood became even warmer when it was encased in his new iron shell.

It was worth the uncomfortable stiffness of his limbs to see the horrified look on Jose's face, who looked like he was trying to melt into his own throne. That ass could sure as hell talk big, but was a sniveling coward when he was on the receiving end.

He lifted his arm, hand clenched into a fist. He cocked his head to one side, the simple motion sent iron scales flinging from his arm, impaling the seven on the right into the wall, their swords crashing simultaneously to the marble floor. The other seven guards stood aghast, terror consuming their pale faces. His other arm hardened into a steel blade, which he sliced in a wide arch, cutting the remaining seven soldiers clean in half.

"I'll let you in on a little secret," his sneer widened, fixing his bloodlust gaze on Jose, who looked like he was about to piss himself. "My old man told me if I ever let this get out he'd have my head on a mantle. It's a bit of a family secret, but I guess I can trust you." He started to pace off to the right, slowly circling him like a predator who had just discovered it's prey.

He stopped abruptly, spinning on his heel so he was facing Jose. "There's a reason Metalicana never lost a battle, and it wasn't the size of his army. It was because he was a dragon; an iron dragon, to be precise. None of those pathetic men who challenged him had a clue, but when they finally found out, it was too late to tell a single soul." He spread his arms out for the effect, revelling in the fear he could practically smell on Jose.

"What happened to all that superiority, _Lord Jose_ ," he mocked, crossing his arms. "You've got guts though, I'll give you that. You invaded my kingdom, burned one of my villages to the ground, strung a helpless girl up in a tree like a bloody sacrifice, and then demand I just give Kurogane over to you! Yeah, you sure as hell have guts, shame I'm gonna have to spill 'em."

Jose was slumping far into his throne now, sweat dripping from his forehead. "Y-y-you _monster_! You're a demon!" he cried, pointing a trembling finger at him.

Gajeel shot towards in a flash of speed that could've belonged to a lightning bolt. Grabbing a fistful of jose tunic and forced his eyes into his. Behind the wall of fear, he could make out his reflection in Jose's wide eyes. His skin replaced with steel, his eyes glowing like red-hot torches in the night; a bloodlust grin revealing a mouth full of sharpened fangs.

"Sorry, but I'm no demon," He extended his free arm out, recreating his iron sword.

"I'm a dragon."

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People keep asking me this so I'm just gonna put it here, Gajeel is 13.


	5. Outside the Door

**Hello my beautiful readers!**

 **I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for being so understanding of the late update last week. I would also like to thank all of my reviewers, you guys are beyond incredible. I'm not a very experienced writer, but it's something I love and you guys saying you love my story makes me feel so big inside. And for those of you haven't reviewed, DON'T BY SHY! If you do enjoy the story, tell me what you enjoy about and I'll try to put more of that in the later chapters.**

 **I have also decided what I'm going to do with this story. At first, the whole 'fairy tail characters as youngsters' idea was going to be for** _ **maybe**_ **three chapters, but it's getting to be longer than that. So, I decided this will be a prequel series to the actual one when they're all grown up. That way when this is done, I can immediately get the sequel out and we get to the good stuff. Tell me what you think!**

 **PLEASE ENJOY!**

I do not own Fairy Tail or any of it's beautiful characters, Hiro Mashima has that great honor.

She didn't see Juvia after that.

More nurses and came and tended to her for several more days; at least, she thought it was days. It was hard to tell since she was staying in a room with no windows, and was always kept well-lit by the fireplace and torches that hung over her bed post.

The nurses had been kind, of course; offering her soothing words when she had flashbacks and being extra careful with her bandages. But she felt like she had found something of a friend in Juvia, which was absurd because she'd only ever had one conversation with her. It may have had something to do with the fact that they were so close in age, she didn't know.

Most of her wounds were healed; her minor cuts and burns had begun to fade, and the wound on her forehead was closing up so she no longer needed a bandage wrapped around her head. Her shin and the bottom of her feet were far less tender, she found she could walk around the room as long as she moved slowly and didn't put too much pressure on her heels, where the burns were worst.

She still needed the layer of bandages around her stomach in case it reopened. She had been given different clothes; a pale yellow dress that she had to roll up to keep the sleeves from covering her hands, and some slippers. She rarely ever bothered to put on the slippers; there was barely any need to leave her bed unless she wanted to eat at her small table or use the chamberpot that occupied the opposite corner. The rest of the time, she either slept or thought.

When she had first awoken, the incredible contentment she had felt at the very thought of not having to die had drowned out all other emotions. But as time passed that happiness slowly diminished and more realistic emotions for someone in her situation settled in. Her life had ended even if she was still alive. She would never again wake up to the warm woodsy smell of home. She would never get to press her face into her mother's soft apron when she was hugging her, or have her father raise her high above his head so she could 'fly' in their small home. And she could never tear through the marketplace in pursue of her friends, who always managed to stay ahead of her on their longer legs. She had been able to make up for it though when it was their turn to catch her; crawling under the vendor's stands, just avoiding their reach. All of that was gone now.

She gathered herself into a tight ball, wrapping her small arms over her knees and holding them to her trembling chest. Her chin rested on top of her knees and a single tear appeared through the curtain of bangs that covered her closed eyes.

She was so lonely.

And she was bored. As beautiful as the small room was, with it's lovely bedspread and simple yet elegant furnishings, it did little to appease her ever-increasing rise of boredom. What she really yearned for was a good book, but she was at the point where a fly would interest her; she would listen to it hum until it drove her crazy and she would have no choice but to maneuver around the room until she caught it.

She wiped away the salty trail the tear had left and threw her legs over the bed, slipping her bare feet into the slippers. She would just go out for a look, just enough to see the hallway and then head back before anyone noticed. She grabbed the handle and turned it, slightly pleased that it wasn't locked. She stepped outside the door and closed it as quietly as she could behind her.

She was surprised at how dark it was in the hallway, which only had a few torches hung on the walls providing minimal light. She was fairly sure it wasn't night, though there weren't any windows to check. She took a few more steps towards the center and started walking off to the right. The eerie glow of torches and iron weapons that were hung up prompted her to walk faster and faster, and she kept getting the weird feeling that she was being watched, she found herself glancing over her shoulder several times.

She soon reached the end of the hallway, there were two separate corridors that branched off to the right and left. She took a final glance behind her and stepped into the right one. She gasped as she was hit by a force that knocked every ounce of breath out of her and sent her sprawling towards the floor. Before she hit a blur of pink sped by her vision and a hand clamped over her shoulder and mouth. She let out a muffled squeak as she was pulled back into the previous corridor and felt her attacker's strong chest panting heavily against her back as they pressed against the wall. She tried to scream but the hand was clamped so heavily down on her mouth she couldn't get a peep out. She tried pulling at the arm wrapped around her but it just tightened around her.

A loud clanging sound made her stop and she felt the person behind her stiffen. She could hear metal clanging together and a large dark figure ran down the right corridor and into the left one, completely passing them both without stopping. She felt them relax behind her and their grip loosen on her mouth. Not wasting the opportunity, she bit as hard as she could on one of the fingers. The person let loose and _very_ unattractive scream and shoved her away.

She landed on her knees and spun around. A boy with a messy and unkempt head of pink hair met her gaze. He clutched his right hand with his other one and stared at her with dark,scared eyes as if she were a feral animal with a bad case of rabies. His pale trousers were stuffed carelessly into brown leather boots, and a white scarf was draped over a red tunic.

She pressed her hands against her knees and stood up. She was just about to ask the boy who he was when the loud clanging returned again. The boy looked towards the noise and stiffened again, before glancing around frantically as if looking for an escape. A giant figure appeared in the entrance of the hallway, casting a shadow along the stone floor. Levy understood the boy's fear now, the man was huge! Large silver armor covered the majority of his massive body, save his dark face. And a long scar stretched across his right eye, incredibly pale against his skin. His crimson eyes were darkened in a fiery storm of anger as he focused a glare that made Levy want to whimper on the boy.

He reached the boy in two quick strides, grabbed a fistful of his pink hair and yanked him up until his toes barely skimmed the floor. "What the hell did you think you were doing, Natsu! Was burning down one village not enough for you? You had to burn us down as well!" He gave the boy an angry shake. "And on top of that, when Gajeel confiscates your catapults you saw fit to fill his boots with horse dung! _Horse dung_! It took me nearly an hour to convince him not to have you loaded _into_ a catapult!"

A tiny snort escaped Levy's lips before she could halt it's release, and she raised a hand to her mouth. The man turned towards her, the fire in his eyes dying as he regarded her in surprise. "Well, it seems our little guest is at least recovering." He stated calmly. He let the boy go and shut his eyes, holding the bridge of his nose. "Natsu, I'll speak with you later, I've got more important matters to attend to then deciding on your consequence." The boy dashed off, rubbing his now undoubtedly sore head.

He opened his eyes, scanning Levy up and down with interest. A small smile crossed his lips. "You look better." He stated.

Levy stared at the floor, "I feel better."

"Well that's a rather good thing to hear. It's been more than a week since you came to us, I was starting to wonder if you were going to make it."

Levy's eyes widened, had it really been that long? She let her eyes wander up to meet the man's, they were a lot kinder now; the previous anger that set them ablaze had faded. "I'm Levy." She blurted out.

He smiled, and held out his hand, which Levy took. "It's a pleasure, Levy. Call me Lily." His hand practically swallowed hers with it's large size.

Recognition flashed in her eyes as he released her hand. She straightened up and bowed her head until it touched her chest. "Um, one of the nurses, Juvia, she told me you saved me! I can't thank you enough, really!" She sputtered, arching her back.

He raised a scarred brow in confusion, "Juvia, you say, that can't be right she isn't a-"

" _ **DAMNIT, LILY!"**_

The huge voice bellowed through the corridor Lily had just come from and against the walls, almost vibrating them with their volume. Levy let out a tiny whimper and covered her ears. She was shocked at how calmly Lily was: calmly turning around with nothing but an exasperated grimace on his face.

A large boy stormed out in front of them, with short, spiky black hair and crimson eyes so ablaze Levy thought she might get burned from just looking at them. Small metal studs replaced nonexistent eyebrows, and he wore a set of armor extremely similar to the dark man in front of her. Though Levy noticed, with a shred of amusement, he was, indeed, very notably bootless.

"Forget the damn catapults, Lily! When I get my hands on that runt I'm gonna rip his head off and use it as a ball!" He outraged, throwing his hands into the air.

Levy peered curiously out from behind Lily's leg, and the boy noticed her for the first time. His crimson eyes locked onto hers and she lowered her head to try to escape his gaze that nearly froze her in place.

"Sir Lily," Levy jerked her head up at the sound of the familiar voice. Juvia came dashing down the hallway and came to an abrupt halt several paces behind the large boy. "Juvia checked the study; it hasn't burnt to the ground but there's charred wood everywhere from where the barrel when it hit the wall." She panted, resting her hands on her knees. The disappearance of Juvia's nurse outfit was the first thing Levy noticed. In its place was a dark leather vest over a night blue garment with sleeves that reached just below her wrists. She wore a matching colored skirt that came down to just above her knees, and Levy could faintly see the navy stockings that peeked out of black leather boots.

"Ya see?" Gajeel threw his arm in Juvia's direction. "He's gonna burn the whole country to the ground at this rate!"

"I am not!" a whiny voice traveled from behind Levy. "I had a target set up in the courtyard, it's not like I missed!" Levy turned her head over her shoulder to see the boy - Natsu - stomping towards them, acting similar to a child in the process of a fit.

"YOU! I'M GONNA _**DESTROY**_ YOU!" Levy felt Lily's hand fasten onto her shoulder an instant later; pulling her out of the way of a _very_ angry Gajeel.

Levy watched in disbelief as he literally _lunged_ at the poor boy and the two ended up in a pile of squirming, spastic limbs as punches were thrown and she was pretty sure that one of them _bit_ the other. Lily released her shoulder and strode forward to grab each boy, Natsu by the back of his tunic and Gajeel by his hair, and attempted to wrench the two boys from each other.

Levy felt another hand touch her shoulder, and turned to face a smiling Juvia, who gave her a forced smile. "Maybe Juvia should take Miss Levy back to her room."

 **I honestly only imagine Gajeel with eyebrow piercings; don't know why, just do. Anyway Natsu lives with Gajeel even though the other dragon slayers and their kids rule over separate areas of Kurogane, with Metalicana, well I guess Gajeel now, as king. Sorry if this chapter doesn't live up to your expectations; I've been doing a lot of serious stuff and I just wanted to lighten the mood. Sorry about not being very long, either. Like I've said, I've been busy. I'll try to get a longe**


	6. A New Friend, A New Story

**Hello to all! So sorry for the late update I've been really busy because I had a bio quiz and just had a math test on friday! Good news is I got 100% on my bio quiz and I'm pretty sure I got the same on my math test, so yeah! Unfortunately because I was busy I typed most of this up over the weekend when I had time. I still needed to improve on this later because I typed in such a rush. Please forgive any grammar mistakes. I wasn't really satisfied with last chapter and I wanted to add more to it but I knew I needed to update so I just settled with it. So I made this chapter which is kind of like a second half of the previous one. I also replaced Lucy with Juvia on the characters list. It's not that Lucy won't be a character but in the "prequel series" she doesn't play as big a part and since Juvia is in it a lot I thought I should maybe change that. I hope no one is mad; she plays a pretty big part in the actual series. Anyways, I hope you enjoy and, please review!**

 **I would also love to thank all who have reviewed so far! You are all incredible people who have given me a reason to keep writing. My heart goes out to all of you lovely and gorgeous human beings!**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail or any of it's beautiful characters, Hiro Mashima has that great honor.**

Levy let Juvia lead her back down the corridor, taking several steps for each of Juvia's to keep up with her. Her feet felt sore again and the her stomach was suddenly very tender; the lower half of her body was starting to feel like every wound now had a needle in it. She winced with every time her heels met the stone floor. Juvia cast a sympathetic gaze at her and, upon seeing her struggle, slowed down to a steady amble.

She could still hear the two boys fighting even as they neared her door, and her eyebrows greeted her hairline when one of the boys, the larger one, Gajeel, threatened to shove Karma Demon so far up Natsu's - um, behind? - that he'd never walk straight again.

Still contemplating on what exactly a _Karma Demon_ was, her forehead bumped into Juvia's shoulder when the older girl came to an abrupt halt. She murmured an apology but the girl didn't even look her direction; instead taking the door handle and holding it open. Levy slipped into the room and settled near the bed's headboard, pulling her slippers off and inspected her feet. The majority of the sensitive skin was cloaked in small shiny blisters that ranged from soft pink to flaming red.

She had expected her to leave after escorting her to her room, but instead Juvia closed the door and plopped down several feet away from Levy. She crossed her ankles and stared uncomfortably at the floor, fingers fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.

"You're not a nurse, are you, Juvia." She blurted out before she could stop herself. The question almost sounded stupid as it left her mouth, after all, nurses didn't dress for battle.

Juvia's hands froze, fingers clutching the dark fabric. "Juvia hopes that Miss Levy doesn't feel like I tricked her." Her eyes were still trained on the floor, locked onto the intricate golden designs stitched into the scarlet rug. "Gajeel wanted Juvia to find out what had happened to you, and Juvia thought that it was a wise idea at the time."

"Do you do everything Gajeel tells you to?" she asked running a finger over one of the blisters before wincing; bad idea.

"I wouldn't say _everything_ , but yes; Juvia does what Gajeel wants." She said, releasing the fabric to fold her hands into her lap.

"Why?"

Juvia straightened up a little, her eyes finding Levy's. She stared at her for several moments, one eyebrow raised slightly higher than the other, before a tiny smile painted itself across her lips.

"What does Miss Levy know about Metalicana?" the question completely caught her off guard, what did she know about him? She racked her brain for any information that she absolutely knew was true about Metalicana. To be honest, she could barely come up with anything! How was this possible, she'd lived her whole life in Kurogane but there was nothing she'd really heard about the king except those stories!

"He's the ruler of Kurogane." She blurted out, instantly feeling stupid with her pathetic answer, obviously he was the ruler! "Um, he has four siblings: Lady Grandeeney, and Lords Igneel, Weisslogia, and Skiadrum; who each rule over a city in Kurogane. And he has a son, but what does that have to do with-"

She was cut off by Juvia's raised brow and a knowing smile that had appeared upon hearing the word 'son'. Slowly, pieces clicked whirred and clicked together in her mind, like it was a puzzle slowly resolving itself into an answer.

Oh.

 _ **Oh!**_

"You mean that Gajeel is the prince of Kurogane!" She sputtered, her eyes widened to a point that she feared if they got any bigger they would pop out and land on the carpet. Juvia stared at her for a moment, then bit down on her lip and tremors that began with just the tiniest quiver of her shoulders overtook her body until she was consumed in hysterical laughter. Her arms snaked around her stomach and tears of mirth streamed down her cheeks.

"Juv-Juvia is-" her sentence was interrupted by another force of laughter so violent Levy was seriously pondering if Juvia might pass out before the onslaught of laughs had passed over.

Juvia started panting, reaching up a hand to brush away the mirth and faced Levy. "Juvia apologizes for laughing so hard, but Miss Levy must understand Juvia hadn't expected her to react like that!" Levy groaned and slumped back into the pillow's as Juvia snapped her eyes shut and continued to chuckle to herself.

Her eyes once again met hers, a warm smile blossoming on her face like the petals of a particularly jovial flower. Levy was almost about to crack one back when her smile faltered and replaced by a seriousness that seemed an impossibility for someone who had just been so convivial. Before Levy could even squeak Juvia had a firm grip on her shoulder, rendering her immobile.

"Miss Levy, you're bleeding." She murmured in a voice so quiet Levy hadn't even known if she'd heard correctly. She craned her neck, her chin digging into her chest to get a proper look at her stomach. A small amount of blood was leaking onto her dress, sluggishly spreading the way ink did when it met paper. She remembered when the boy - Natsu - had knocked into her. She'd felt pain shoot along the side of her stomach but she'd been too surprised to be concerned about it.

Juvia clicked her tongue before pulling Levy up back into a sitting position. "Juvia may not be a nurse, but I know when a washing is necessary before rebandaging a wound. If Miss Levy would follow Juvia, she will take her to the washroom."

Levy reached down, pulled on her slippers, and slid herself off the bed to followed Juvia out of the room. The cold from the hard stone leaked into her feet through the thin fabric of the footwear, providing a small amount of relief to her throbbing heels.

They traveled down more hallways than Levy could count, all of which were verging on identical with their torches and iron weapons that adorned the walls. Not a word was spoken between them as they walked, and Levy was starting to feel an awkwardness that was growing thicker with every step they took to a point where she thought she could slice it with knife. They finally made it to an old wooden door, which Juvia explained led into the servant's washroom. She nodded and opened the door, slipping into a rather dark room with the only inhabitants being a middle aged woman and large wooden basin.

"Go to the kitchens and bring back some hot water for Miss Levy." Juvia addresses the woman, who barely spared Levy a second glance before she strode out of the room, the tattered hem of her ashen dress skimming along the ground, adding to a collection of clinging dust bunnies.

Levy breathed in the damp, musty air and turned to face the wall, noticing for the first time an old cracked mirror with edges that were tinged copper from the rust. Her eyes widened when she saw the girl gaping back at her through the reflection: large brown eyes nearly concealed underneath a jagged mop of hair that practically swallowed her head. She gawked at the reflection in amazement; she recalled many times when her mother complained about her hair being too unruly but at least then it had been _even_ and unruly! 'Where had all these choppy clumps come from!' she wondered as she ran a hand through the tangled disaster of hair.

"Unfortunately the fire did some damage to your hair, Miss Levy." Juvia explained, a kittenish smile appeared on her pale lips. "It will probably look better once it's been washed, perhaps even flattering at some angles."

Levy couldn't comprehend how a jagged blue mop threatening to swallow her head whole could ever be _flattering_ , but she just nodded and continued to gaze at the reflective surface. The woman returned, along with three others trailing behind her, each hauling two buckets filled to the brim with water that were so heavy they bent the backs of each woman. They each took turns unloading the buckets into the basin until it was nearly brimming over when the last woman finished. Each woman bowed their heads politely at Juvia before taking their leave. Levy stared at the bluenette who in return flashed a smile and gestured invitingly to the tub.

She reached over her shoulder towards the buttons sewn along the back of her dress, fiddling for several moments before finally popping one out after the other. She slid off the dress and the thin layer of bandages, she took a moment to examine the pale flesh of her stomach. The area that had been previously bleeding had stopped, leaving behind a thin crusty trail of dried blood that outlined the wound and the skin around it.

She lifted one foot into the basin before following it with the other, and sat down one the wooden floor. A gasp of surprise escaped her throat as the hot water sloshed against her skin, but it ended as more of a moan of pleasure. Juvia echoed the strange sound with a chuckle, before approaching her and picking up a cloth that was laid over the basin's side.

Juvia bent over and picked up a pale bar from the ground, rubbing it against the cloth until a white froth caked the surface. Levy wasn't sure what the bar was, but it smelled unexplainably good. She held her hand out towards the cloth when Juvia moved forward to wash her hair.

"You don't have to do this, Juvia. I know how." She smiled up the girl, who returned it with a frown that had Levy wondering if she'd done something wrong.

"Juvia wanted to help, though." She pouted, staring at the cloth in her hands. "Juvia's never had a younger sister…" She trailed off, eyes still locked on the sudsy rag.

That caught Levy off guard. A tiny chuckle of laughter to escape her lips, what a strange thought that was. It was also strange how she went from composed and serious to a child younger than Levy herself. She turned back around and could almost _feel_ Juvia's happiness as she felt her hands push her head back into the water.

She closed her eyes and smiled as she felt Juvia's hands scrub and massage her scalp, she had never bathed in hot water before. During the warmer seasons she would bathe in a pond a ways off from her home, and in the winter her mother had her fill a bucket of snow and heat over a fire until it reached a lukewarm temperature and she could wash her face and hair with that.

"Why don't you tell me about yourself, Miss Levy."

"Levy's fine, Juvia, there's no need for formalities." She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, where cracks snaked across the surface like a river, her eyes traced each of the cracks and as she tried to think of what to say. "My father was a scribe, he would translate and record runes of different languages. We only had a few books though, he taught how to read using those when he wasn't busy. Most of the time I was with my mother, though, she was always having me sweep the floor and prepare supper." Her mind traveled to those times as she spoke, she could still remember her father's hands stained with ink, and her mother's long blue hair tied back as she scrubbed all traces of grime out of old pots.

"It sounds like Levy preferred reading." Juvia's soft voice rang in her ear, drawing her out of her dream. She craned her neck back as Juvia rinsed out her hair. Juvia's hand found her back, gently pushing her back into a sitting position before she began to ring out her hair.

"I was, um, pretty sickly when I was a baby. I came too early and my parents thought I wouldn't make it through my first night, Mother nearly died too. I got better but Mother still didn't like me leaving the house until I was almost seven, she was so worried I'd get sick again if I was exposed to anything. So when I wasn't cleaning Father would let me watch him work and he started to teach me after a while. We read those stories over and over and never got tired of it. He was going to teach me other languages, too. It was so much fun being with him." Her voice shook as tears welled up behind her eyes and blurred her vision. Her throat tightened until she couldn't even form words and she sobbed quietly into her hands.

Juvia's hands had untangled themselves from her hair, and Levy glanced over her shoulder through teary eyes. Juvia stared at her for what seemed like an eternity before grasping her by the shoulders and pulling her into a tight embrace. Levy was completely stiff for a moment, her knees pressed against the tub's side, she relaxed and rested her chin on her shoulder.

After the embrace Juvia helped her out of the bath and back into her clothes. Levy noticed that parts of her wound were flaking, revealing a new layer of soft pink skin. Juvia informed her that was good news since the skin looked healthy with no signs of infection present. Her old dress clung stubbornly to her damp skin as Juvia pulled it over her head. They left the room together and headed back towards her room, hand in hand. When they reached it Juvia left only to rejoin her several minutes later, with new clothes and some more bandages just in case.

The light blue dress was a better fit, it still felt loose but there was no need to roll up the sleeves since they reached just before her elbows. Tiny golden designs were embroidered along the neckline, as was the hem of the skirt. A strip of black fabric still remained on her bed. She had assumed it was a sash for her waist but it wasn't long enough.

"For Levy's hair, when it dries." Juvia explained. Levy nodded, reaching out to grasp the silk fabric. "Juvia should be going but she'll check up on Levy later," she smiled at her before opening the door. "Juvia will tell someone to bring you dinner." She said before leaving.

Levy fiddled with the fabric in her hands. She liked Juvia. She was a strange girl but that was good, how boring life would be without strangeness. She wanted to laugh at that thought, her life was anything but dull at this point. She pushed back her bangs until they laid as obediently as they would allow along her scalp, tying them in place with the headband before they had a chance to fall back into their usual place hanging over her eyes like a cerulean curtain.

Her dinner was served to her, a roll and a large helping of mutton. She was to it that it was gone in seconds. She splayed out on the bed, revelling in the softness of the quilt on her skin, smiling to herself. It had been a good day, she decided. She closed her eyes, suddenly very drowsy.

She woke to the sound of a door closing. She sat up immediately, wondering if perhaps breakfast was there for her. There was no knew food, though, and her dishes from earlier were still on the table. She ran a hand over her hair, the damp strands reassured her she hadn't been sleeping long.

Something caught the corner of her eye. She looked over towards her table, while it was empty, besides her dishes, the chair definitely wasn't. Three familiar rectangular shapes piled on top of each other now occupied the stool.

She almost fell out of the bed getting out, scrambling into the correct position before she splayed out on the floor like the bear rug she had spotted on her walk with Juvia. She clumsily staggered over towards the table and fell to her knees in front of the chair. Three books, each with a similar dark leather cover, now occupied themselves on the stools circular surface. She carefully ran a hand over them, like they precious glass that would break at the slightest slip of hand.

She recalled the books her father had given her to read, old and torn with some words so faded you'd have to shove your faces in the pages to make it out. So different from the shininess of the leather that these books possessed. She gathered them into her arms, hugging them to her chest. Who could have given her these? She smiled, of course, there was only one person who possibly could've.

 _Thank you, Juvia._


	7. An Eternal Adventure

**I'm sorry there's been a lot of late updates recently but I'm really trying to stick to a schedule from now on. I've just been busy and not feeling all that well and haven't gotten around to writing as much as I want to. I hope that you guys enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it. Please leave a review because I love hearing from you guys so much and I hit like an inspiration jackpot when you do review and I write a whole lot. Feel free to tell me what you like about the story and I'll try to put more of that in there. Please enjoy!**

 **I am not worthy of claiming ownership to Fairy Tail or its** _ **gorgeous**_ **characters, Hiro Mashima holds that incredible honor.**

* * *

"Again."

Gajeel's breath came in short pants and his hands found his knees as he tried desperately not to keel over. Sweat trickled down his brow, causing a few raven strands to cling stubbornly to his forehead, which was crazy because it was the middle of winter and he shouldn't be sweating when it was so damn cold out.

Natsu was lying on his back several feet away. His arm wrapped around his midsection where Lily had mercilessly struck him with Bustermarm's hilt. Crimson Lotus still clutched in his gloved hand, the scarlet blade partially concealed in the white, fluffy powder. He released a ghost of a laugh. Of course, it would be his pansy-ass cousin who would name his sword after a flower.

Gajeel readjusted his grip on Karma Demon before charging Lily, swinging low in a steep arc that would have detached the legs of any normal man. Unfortunately, Lily didn't fall into the category of _normal_. Or anywhere even considerably near it. Moving like the exotic cat cat he was named for, Lily easily sidestepped the attack and spun on his heel before slamming the hilt into the center of Gajeel's back.

Gajeel gasped as the shock and pain from the blow traveled through his body in waves, he could barely even get his mind to register what had happened before he landed face-first in the slush, the freezing snow soaking his neck did little to aid his now sore back.

"Honestly, you boys have the energy to nearly kill one another on a daily basis but this is really the best you can do without unlocking your dragon form? How disappointing." He could almost feel the grin Lily was undoubtedly directing at him, and he mumbled a few choice words into the snow before pushing himself up. This was beyond ridiculous! He was practically the king of Kurogane, and yet he was, getting beaten like a dirty carpet. He cursed under his breath as the slush started to trickle down his back in frozen icy droplets.

They'd been practicing for over two hours, each taking a turn at sparring with Lily. He hated days like this, at least when he fought Natsu he knew he could land a good few blows. With Lily, that was basically impossible. A figure came into his peripheral vision, and he turn his head towards an approaching Juvia.

"Sir Lily! Juvia needs to talk to you!" The bluenette's cheeks were flushed, and he could hear her heart hammering in her chest even when she was across the courtyard. Whatever it was she to inform Lily about, it was clear she'd been running for a while, not doubt trying to find the knight who had yet to break a sweat as he pommeled him and Natsu.

Lily glanced over his shoulder at the girl before turning his attention back to them. "You boys can go, the last thing I need is to have you both catching a cold."

Gajeel wanted to retort that if he didn't want them to get sick, he shouldn't have gone out of his way to throw them both repeatedly to the frozen ground. That would only earn him an ass kicking, so he sheathed Karma Demon instead and followed Natsu back into the castle.

"Am I the only one who noticed that Lily was having a bit too much fun today?" Natsu asked, still rubbing his sore side.

"Please, with the pathetic way you fight, I'd be tempted to beat you too." He scoffed at his cousin, who returned a glare of his own.

"The way _I_ fight? Please, you should see yourself," He lowered his voice in a mock impression of Lily's. "Gajeel, is that supposed to be an attack, or do you have a swarm of bees in your face."

Gajeel growled and reached out to cuff him over the head, but only snatched at air as his cousin tore down the corridor, laughing over his shoulder. He was really starting to get tired of that kid. He could handle being raised with his younger cousin, but it was the obsession with weapons, particularly ones that had been lit on fire, and the constant mishaps that had him often questioning whether or not Natsu had a cabbage for a brain that had Gajeel resisting the urge to strangle him.

He had a servant draw a bath for him once he got to his chambers, and within minutes he was soaking in the near boiling water. He pondered about what Juvia had been in such a rush to tell Lily about. He smirked as his mind traveled to several years ago when he'd first met Juvia, a scrawny kitchen girl at the time. She'd always been far too nosy for her own good, always keeping an ear out whenever she completed a task. Whether it was listening to the cooks gossiping amongst themselves, to listening in on Metalicana himself whenever she was nearby.

He'd ended up catching her in the act, finding her leaning up against the door that led into his father's private study, one ear pressed against the door. He'd known his father was in a private meeting with Lily, which meant everyone not including those inside must stay away, far away, until their discussion was finished. He told her he wouldn't speak a word of it to Metalicana if she would find out what happened in the meetings.

It turned out that the majority of the meetings were based around one topic; war. Gajeel had known that other countries in the continent of Fiore had their sights on the vast lands that made up Kurogane, but he hadn't expected the number to be so high. The greatest complication on the matter was that they were sneaking onto Kurogane lands, and building their forces under their noses.

He'd finally admitted to his father about Juvia spying for him, but instead of punishing them, it had given Metalicana a perfect plan. Juvia was to go to countries that Metalicana found suspicious and pose as a servant until she could clarify the situation about whether or not that country was preparing to attack. It worked like a charm really, and it had saved a lot of headaches for Lily and Metalicana.

He stepped out of the porcelain tub, dripping across the marble floor. There was a black tunic and trousers waiting on his iron poster bed, which he quickly threw on. He left his armor in a heap in the corner for the servants to clean up later. He pulled on his boots before snatching Karma Demon up from the pile, and set it on his desk before exiting.

He wanted to find Lily, or maybe Juvia. It didn't matter as long as he could find out why Juvia had been in such a rush to talk to Lily.

"All you have to do is load light the barrel, like this, and then pull that lever right over there!"

"Oh, I-I see."

He immediately recognized the louder voice to be Natsu's, but the other one, much quieter and shy sounding, was far more difficult to place. He was sure he'd heard it before.

He turned a corner to discover Natsu talking with the tiny bluenette from the village, but his focus wasn't on either of them, it was on a large, wooden object. An object that he distinctly remembered had been locked up in the stables along three others. Upon seeing him his pink haired cousin turned around to fully face him.

"Hey, Gajeel! You met Levy? I like her more than you." His cousin declared, an idiotic grin plastered to his face. He gestured back towards the girl.

Gajeel growled and grabbed his cousin by the front of his tunic. " What the hell did I say about the damn catapults, Natsu!" he shook him several times. Natsu offered him a pouting look in return.

"I wanted to show Levy them, though," he wriggled out of his grasp and wrapped his arm around the girl's shoulders, much to her obvious discomfort. "She's nice and only a year younger than me," he smiled at her before glaring at him. "Not to mention, she's actually interested in my ideas."

"Come up with an idea that ain't completely idiotic and a danger to everyone present, and maybe I will be." He growled back, ignoring his cousin's enraged glower and training his gaze on the little girl, Levy, he'd called her? He'd only seen her once after the attack, but hadn't really gotten a close look. It was impossible to guess she was only a year younger than Natsu, who'd turned eleven in the summer. After all, she barely came up to his chest. Her jagged blue hair that had nearly swallowed her head was now tied down with a black cloth, he had to admit it did draw attention to her golden brown eyes, which were locked on her feet. Her wounds were disappearing, he couldn't even see the nasty cut on her forehead anymore.

Gajeel sighed, and turned his attention back to Natsu. "I want those things out of here, Natsu. If I see them again I'll turn them into firewood." He growled before turning away, he had better things to do than handling Natsu right now. He nearly bumped into Juvia as he turned the corner. Damn, how many people was he going to run into in this corridor alone?

"What was it you needed to tell Lily about?" he walked past her and glanced behind his shoulder to make sure she was following, which she was.

She trotted a few paces forward so they could walk side by side. "It's not too important, Sir Lily will probably talk about it with Gajeel later."

She gave him a strange look, and Gajeel turned to fully face her. "What?" he growled.

"Gajeel needs to work on not glaring at people, it was making Levy uncomfortable."

"I wasn't glaring at her," he scowled. "The hell gave you that idea?"

"Gajeel glares at everyone. He does it so often that he forgets he's doing it himself." She explained to him like she was explaining something to a small child.

He glowered at her for a few more moments, and then pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're a real pain in the ass sometimes, you know that Juvia?"

"Juvia's well aware of this." She replied calmly, before flashing a smile and walking off in the opposite direction with a bit too much spring in her step for his liking.

He growled under his breath as he watched her leave. He was too tired for this, and his back still hurt. He needed a nap, he decided; stretching his arms over his head.

* * *

He saw Levy again the next day. It was strange since he hadn't even heard her walking near his door when he opened it and saw her several paces ahead, practically floating on her tiny feet instead of walking. He could tell by the hesitation in her steps that she was lost, and it was strangely amusing whenever her head would slightly turn to the side in obvious attempt to figure out where she was.

He quickly caught up to her and reached to tap her shoulder to get her attention, but fate would have it that she turned around at the last moment and he ended up prodding the soft pink flesh of her cheek instead.

"Ah! Prince Gajeel! I'm so sorry I didn't see you there, it's just I got lost and I-" she stammered, looking again at her feet.

Gajeel arched an eyebrow in confusion; the hell was she apologizing for?

"S' fine," he interrupted. "What are you looking for?"

"Well Juvia said if I needed anything to do there was a library around here but I'm not quite sure where."

He retrained a snort from escaping, the library was on the other side of the castle. He hadn't been there in so long he'd almost forgotten about it.

"Come on," he said, walking past her. When she didn't follow he turned around, a confused expression as on her face. "If I tell you where it is you'll probably just get lost again," he shrugged his shoulders.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, it was strange. He didn't have anything to say to her, and it was next to impossible to guess what she was thinking. She seemed to take great interest in her feet, though. Every time he cast a glance towards her her eyes were always planted there.

They reached the library after a while. It was one of the tallest rooms in the castle next to the great hall. Colossal bookcases reached up to the ceiling, all overflowing with more books than he could count. Light streamed in through the windows, and a large stone fireplace kept the room warm. Red velvet sofas were scattered in the middle. A layer of dust covered the majority of the room, proof that no one had entered in a while.

"It's beautiful," a whisper escaped the girl's lips. He smirked down at her, her eyes were shining as if pieces of stars were embedded into their depths.

"Aren't girls supposed to be interested in dresses and stuff?" he asked her, slightly cocking his head to one side.

She smiled up at him and he felt his throat tighten. It was insane for him to be thinking this but with her eyes shining like gold and the warm glow of her cheeks, she looked like damn angel in that moment.

"Maybe, but a dress is just an object, a pretty thing that's only exciting the first time you wear it. After that you get more bored with it every time you put it on. With books you can never have the same experience twice; it's always changing every time, even if the words don't. I'll take an eternal adventure over an unchanging garment any day." She smiled again and went over towards the nearest bookshelf. Gajeel watched her the entire time. 'An eternal adventure, huh?' he smirked again, 'sounds interesting.'

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 **That last part took waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy too long to write. I kept deleting it over and over and was finally left with this. It hope you all enjoyed and, as always, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	8. A Walk Outside

**HELLO TO ALL OF YOU LOVELY VIEWERS!**

 **Update on time, finally! I know what you might be thinking, "there's actually a schedule?" and yes there is; I'm just horrible at keeping to it. I cannot express how grateful I am that you all have been so understanding and patient about the updates. I'm really thankful for those who are reviewing and it really makes me happy when I hear such positive feedback. It's really a huge boost to my confidence, because I'll post something and think 'ok, this is good' but then I'll look back and feel like weak human trash for writing it because I'll have found some way to do it better. If you have any questions, comments, or ways on how I can make the story better, then by all means, REVIEW!** **I also am wondering if you all would prefer shorter chapters and quicker updates (like 2,000 words), or longer chapters and less frequent updates (about 4,000 words), so if you guys could tell me your opinion that would be great!**

 **Please enjoy!**

Levy soon discovered that out of every book in the massive library, there was only one topic that the countless books offered.

Dragons.

The history of dragons, dragons and their mates, dragon nests, even a particularly grotesque and graphic one about the wars between dragons and humans that had Levy queasy after looking at the first page. Apparently the sight of a man's intestines spilling out of him while a dragon stood over him and ate his heart just didn't sit well with her stomach.

Levy had heard stories about dragons before. How they were giant, fire breathing beasts covered in scales that hoarded treasures and could only be defeated by gallant knights in shining armor, but she never thought there could be so much to learn about the greedy lizards.

She had found that, of the vast majority of books in the room, her favorite was an old fairy tale about a princess and her dragon. When a young princess came of age she was forced to choose a prince to marry. After turning down every suitor that presented himself, her austere parents, whom were fed up with their daughter's rebellious behavior, had her hidden away in a tower and declared that the first prince to find her would have her hand in marriage.

The princess wept for days on end, alone and in despair. She prayed on every star that dotted the night sky that someone, somewhere, would find and help her. A majestic green dragon answered her prayers, promising to protect her from the princes with all his mighty strength, if she would become his princess.

She agreed and after seeing the dragon continuously risk his life battling the countless, and remarkably persistent, suitors, she realized she had fallen for her fire breathing protector. Levy stroked the illustration on the last page, her fingers caressing the soft underbelly of the dragon were the princess safely slept.

What she wouldn't give to have a dragon of her own.

Unfortunately, though, the only place dragons could ever truly exist was in her stories. If she did have a dragon, it would have saved her and her village. It would have killed those Phantom Lord soldiers. It would have kept her safe and happy.

"Is Levy enjoying herself?"

Levy looked up and smiled at Juvia. "Very much, thank you." She pushed herself off of her stomach to sit up so Juvia could join her on the sofa.

"Looks like Levy has made herself at home here." Juvia gestured around the room, which Levy responded to with a sheepish smile. Books covered up every surface and couch, stacked in piles ranging from two to six. Several more were scattered along the floor near pillows for Levy to rest on while she read.

"Um, I'm sorry about the mess; I'll definitely clean up later."

"Levy doesn't need to trouble herself, this is nothing compared to the messes those two have conjured up." As if on cue, a loud crash followed by a yelp and "YOU IDIOT!" echoed through the library. The deep baritone voice was clearly Prince Gajeel, and Levy immediately assumed that the squeal was Natsu.

"Those two don't get along really well, do they? Why does Natsu live here and not with his father?"

Juvia shrugged. "Although the rest of Metalicana's siblings all own their own cities around Kurogane, Lord Igneel hardly left his brother's side. They were far closer than most siblings; never seemed to argue, always their for each other." Juvia explained to her.

"So, basically the opposite of Prince Gajeel and Natsu." Levy joked.

Juvia cracked a smile. "It's true those two quarrel a ridiculous amount, but even those two have their moments where they behave just like their fathers. It's really quite a sight." Although she was smiling, Levy could tell by the sincerity in her eyes that none of those words were untrue. It was a strange thought of Natsu and Prince Gajeel actually sharing a conversation that didn't involve insults and fists, but it did sound rather intriguing to see.

"Oh, Levy should probably stop referring to Gajeel as _Prince_ Gajeel."

Levy cocked her head to one side. "Shouldn't I, though? After all, he _is_ a prince."

Juvia shrugged again. "That may be true, but Gajeel just doesn't like titles. It doesn't fit his personality."

"Oh, I-I see."

Juvia stood up and motioned for Levy to do the same with her hand. "Come on, Levy shouldn't be stuck inside all day."

Levy smiled and stood up, the neckline of her dress fell of her shoulder and Juvia frowned at it. "We need to get Levy some clothes that it properly."

Levy shook her head, pulling the fabric back into place. "No, this is fine. Besides, I don't think I'll be staying much longer."

Juvia continued to frown. "Until then, Juvia will go speak to one of the nurses about getting a seamstress," she smiled and took Levy's hand in her own. "Let's go for a walk, Levy."

She'd grown used to the heat and light from the library's roaring fireplace, so it took awhile to get used to the damp cold and dimness of the corridors. Juvia gave her a cloak she claimed to be one of hers to wear for going outside. It was a deep, navy blue like the ocean with a slightly darker fur collar; and it nearly brushed the floor as she walked. She gazed at the pendant in the center of the cloak that held the garment together: a golden circle with swirls that bared a resemblance to waves traveling towards the center. Juvia wore an identical one, the only difference being that her's was slightly larger.

They went up a flight of stone stairs and Juvia explained her that they were going to walk along the walls and look down into the courtyard.

It was really a reversed experience when they got outside. Instead of having to adjust to the murky darkness of the corridors she had to adjust her eyes to the brilliance of the sun reflecting off the snow. The only way she could do this was squinting her eyes and slowly open them over a period of minutes. The frozen air sneaked into the exposed parts of her skin, prompting her to press even deeper inside the cloak. Stone walls nearly came up to Levy's chest on either side of them, preventing them from tumbling over the side if they tripped. She gazed over it and into the courtyard: snow cloaked the flat ground, and a fleet of bare trees encircled the whole area. A large, bare oak tree stood at the very center, it's shadow casting an ocean of claws against the ground.

Guards are scattered around, sparring with each other with longswords and throwing javelins at bales of straw that rested on the frozen ground in piles of three directly underneath Levy and Juvia. Levy winced at the sounds of metal meeting metal, a cold reminder of what had happened to her village.

Juvia seemed to notice her anxiousness and tried to distract her with conversation. "You know, they say that Kurogane has the best armed forces in any of the Fiore kingdoms. Metalicana has them all handpicked, there isn't a soldier who hasn't proven himself ten times over to His Majesty."

Levy nodded and stared off towards the courtyard. She inhaled deeply before releasing, sending a fog of breath into the air. Big, fat flakes started to drift lazily from the sky, and Levy had to blink them away as they landed on her eyelashes. She glanced over at Juvia and almost laughed when she saw the older girl stick out her tongue in hopes of capturing a flake or two.

Soon, she copied the action; the flakes immediately softening into moisture on the pink surface of her tongue. A particularly large flake ended up on the tip of Juvia's nose, and she laughed as she struggled to lap it off.

She looked back into the courtyard just in time to see one of the javelin throwers slip on the fresh powder, the javelin in his hand launching much higher than meant. Levy froze when she realized the destination the javelin was headed to: her.

"Levy!" Juvia gasped, but she made no attempt to move. She only stood there, frozen as the cruel metal point of the javelin came closer, and closer.

She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the feeling of metal embedding itself into her. Instead, she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her and yank her to the ground to find shelter against the wall. She felt her rescuer's back rest against the stone, and her cheek stung when it pressed against the freezing armor of a breastplate, but she was in too much shock to care. She could hear heavy breathing in front of her, but the grip was so strong she couldn't glance up to see who it was.

"Shit," a husky voice rumbled in her ear, his hands readjusted themselves around her.

"You alright, Shorty?"


	9. Tragedy Strikes

**Longer chapter this time, my peoples!**

 **I really hope that the long chapter makes up for the wait. Between school and trying to keep on top of everything, not to mention a ton of family coming over, I've found it's getting harder to find time to write. Not to mention I've totally been neglecting my other fic to work on this and I needed to add more to that. And then there's the writer's block I'm suffering from. I could honestly list 1,000 excuses but then I'd never get to writing the story. I hope you all are enjoying the story so far and are happy with my writing. So far I've seen nothing but positive feedback and I'm beyond grateful for that. Reviews are always welcome if you do enjoy or have any opinions on how to make the story better.**

 **Now, enjoy 4,000 words of GAJEVEY!**

 **I am not worthy of claiming that I own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima holds that great honor.**

* * *

Gajeel could smell the blood on his neck where the javelin had nicked him, sluggishly trickling down the curve of his collarbone and casting waves of shivering down the rest of his body. Tiny cerulean hairs tickled his nose, reminding him of the tiny frame he had pressed against him.

"Shit," he panted. Even if he'd taken a direct blow the iron in his blood would've just absorbed the hit; he probably would've ended up just eating the thing. He couldn't say the same for her; one second too late would've meant instant death. He could hear Levy's heart beating like a war drum right before a battle against his chest, and her fragile body was trembling like a leaf in his grip. He couldn't believe how tiny she felt in his arms. Her breaths came in short pants, and for a moment he actually thought she might have started crying.

He tightened his arms around her, pulling her even closer. "You alright, Shorty?"

A shy nod was the only response he got before Juvia swooped in and snatched her away like a hawk would a mouse.

"Juvia is so sorry, Levy! Juvia should've been faster!" Juvia had her wrapped in a tight embrace, lifting her until her toes barely scraped at the ground, and looked to be choking the life out of her. "Are you hurt; is there anything Juvia can do?"

Levy stared over Juvia's shoulder at him; big, golden brown eyes locking onto him, before pointing towards him timidly. "You're bleeding," she inquired softly.

Gajeel swiped his hand over the wound and gazed down at his now blood coated fingertips. "It's nothing."

Juvia finally released Levy before leaning over the wall and hollering an entire lecture on sloppy carelessness endangering all those around him to the poor fool who slipped. He pushed himself off the freezing stone floor, silently cursing the icy wind that managed to sneak through his thick cloak. Levy's eyes were downcast and tiny tremors shook her body. He honestly couldn't blame her for being scared.

"You sure you're alright?" he looked down at her, folding his arms over his chest.

She nodded and met his gaze with a smile, her shoulders relaxing. A warm glow flushed her cheeks, which he assumed was from the cold. "Yeah, I'm fine thanks to you." He smirked down at her before reaching out to ruffle her hair. Despite the frozen air and wind her hair was warm to the touch, and he revelled in the feeling of the silky strands between his calloused fingers.

"How did you do that?" she asked when he drew his hand away. "I didn't see you on the wall."

It might have been the coldest time of the year, but that didn't prevent the beads of sweat that Gajeel started to feel gathering at the base of his neck. There was no way he could explain to her that he'd entered his dragon form in order to gain an incredible burst of speed, and he especially didn't want to admit he'd been watching them; he had a reputation to keep and part of it didn't include staring at young girls while they played in the snow!

"Um, I-I was," he stammered, crossing his arms and cursing the blood that had rushed to his ears. "You must not have seen me."

His throat tightened as a look of confusion flashed across her innocent golden eyes, but was quickly replaced by a bright smile. "It doesn't matter, anyways; thank you so much!" her skinny arms wrapped around his torso as she pressed against him. He stiffened up, feeling strangely conflicted at that moment; his normal self wanted to push away the unexpected affection, but what really confused him was that a tiny piece of him wanted to embrace her back. The scent of old parchment and ink from the pages of countless books wafted onto him; he inhaled deeply, drinking up her scent. Normally the only scent he enjoyed was blood, but this scent was so fresh and new and strangely appealing.

"Don't mention it," he murmured.

After a while she pulled away and Juvia was at her side instantly. "Let's go back inside, Levy. It's starting to get too cold for Juvia." Levy nodded before slipping her hand into Juvia's, and the two walked back towards the doors. He caught the tiny smile that Levy shot over her shoulder before Juvia ushered her inside.

He stood there in silence; the area on his chest where she'd hugged him was still warm, and he could smell the lingering scent of parchment and ink drifting through the air. He wanted to curse at the heat that had spread throughout his face; he didn't understand why it had appeared in the first place. He tried to distract himself by looking out into the courtyard where the soldiers had resumed their training, but found himself constantly thinking about a pair of luminous golden eyes that shone with a strange mix of kindness and purity that was impossibly strange for someone with her past to possess.

"DAMNIT!" he growled, thrusting his boot into the wall's stone, the force of the blow sent cracks snaking along the side and crumbling debri down to the ground below. Shit, Lily was definitely going to lecture him for that.

Speaking of the strict viceroy, it may be necessary for him to pay Lily a visit to discuss the conversation with Juvia. He sauntered off away from the partially destroyed wall, unconsciously kicking up a debri with every step he took.

The castle strangely empty as he continued his way towards his father's old study. It was the place Metalicana and Lily always met to discuss business and seemed like the most logical place to check first. He knew there weren't many servants but he usually ran into one or two whenever he walked around; this time he didn't see a single one. His footsteps echoed eerily against the stone walls in the vast emptiness of the hallways.

His father's study came into view at the end of the next corridor. He quickened his pace as he approached it and thanks to his nose he could tell that Lily was in there before he headed through the doorway. Weapons were hung all along the walls of the study; ranging from daggers to maces. His father's viceroy was slouched over in a chair at the desk, head held in leathery, dark hands. Gajeel might've mistaken him for being asleep if it weren't for his irregular breathing.

"Oi, Lily," he began, "what is it that Juvia was in such a rush to tell you about?"

Lily's body stiffened at his voice, but he didn't raise his head. A flash of paper caught his eye on the desk and his gaze wandered over towards it. The letter was fairly short, and it had a thick crease line along the center where it had been folded. He was too far to read the tiny words that had been scribbled across it, but he recognized the seal at the bottom. It was a seal that had shown up four months ago when Metalicana and Igneel were assigned their "mission".

"Lily?" he began, suddenly fearing the answer. "What is this?"

Lily sighed into his hands before raising his head to look at him. His crimson eyes were clouded with sadness, and Gajeel could feel his heart crawling into his throat.

"Get Natsu."

It was those simple words that had him slowly backing out of the study before tearing through the castle in search of his cousin. He searched the air with his nose to try to pick up on his most recent scent, but it was as if all the thoughts that were jumbling through his brain had rendered his senses useless. He caught a faint scent of smoke as he passed one of the hallways, skidding to a halt before sprinting down it to find the scent's owner.

Natsu was leaning against the wall with a candle in his held up to his mouth, drinking away the flames. His eyes widened at his approach and Gajeel grabbed his shoulders, partially to get his full attention and partially to prevent him from crashing into him. The candle fell from his hand and broke in half on contact with the floor as he shook him.

"Natsu," he panted, completely out of breath. "Lily's freaking me out; there's something wrong. We've gotta talk to him"

Natsu held up his hands defensively. "If this is about my catapults they're all in the stables so-"

Gajeel could hardly keep his jaw off the floor before grabbing his scarf and pulling him closer until they were at eye level. Did he think that he would have run his ass around for the sack of some bloody flammable deathtraps!

"This ain't about your damn catapults! Something happened to them; I can feel it."

Realization danced across Natsu's eyes at the mention of the word 'them'. The pair dashed off towards the study. He hoped he was mistaking, that everything was fine and Lily was upset for some other reason. Any other reason than _that_.

They'd been completely out of breath when they made it back; Gajeel was certain it was the adrenaline that kept him from collapsing. Lily was still in the chair, the letter crumpled in his hand as he stared emptily into space. He turned over towards the boys, and Gajeel knew exactly what was going to come out of his mouth before he even said it.

"They're gone. All of them, gone."

Gajeel felt as if a mountain had just collapsed on top of him. His knees got heavy and shook as he tried to keep his balance. Natsu slipped to the ground beside him.

"That can't be, Lily; you're wrong. Or, at least, you made a mistake; they can't be dead." Natsu choked out. Gajeel remained completely stiff, the only breaths he could muster came in thick, heavy pants that stuck in his throat on the way out.

Lily shook his head at them. " According to the message I received from Magnolia, things were going well; they were on the brink of winning, but there was an ambush four weeks ago. They were taking on the main forces on Mt. Hakobe Both Grandeeney and Skiadrum were slaughtered, and then the enemy set of an explosion that demolished half of the mountain. It killed them."

Gajeel could barely register what was being said to him as his mind took him back to the last time he'd ever see his father again.

* * *

" _Do you have to go?"_

 _The enormous figure, clad in iron armor, straightened up at the surprisingly quiet tone. He turned around, a smirk played across his pierced face as his dark crimson eyes looked down upon his son. Despite the teasing glint there was a strange fondness in his eyes as he regarded him. There was a large satchel of belongings at his feet; containing everything from rations to weapons. A sure sign of a long journey._

" _I think you already know the answer to that; don't you, Gajeel?"_

 _Gajeel grumbled to himself; his eyes scanned over the furniture that was scattered throughout the study, before finally settling them on the floor. He had never once had a problem talking to Metalicana, they had been open books with each other for as long as he could remember. But then a mysterious letter had shown up on his desk and suddenly it was like talking about certain subjects were a new cause for a plague. Even Juvia hadn't been able to find out much about the later; only that the wax seal that had arrived with the message belonged to the king of Magnolia. This puzzled him thoroughly considering he couldn't remember a time when Metalicana and Makarov had ever crossed paths; much less send each other letters._

 _He'd ended up having to resort to asking Metalicana directly several times, and while he admitted there was somewhere that he would be going to prepare for a war, he wouldn't say where or why; only that it would be for a long time. He actually was starting to worry considering Metalicana took maybe two weeks to end a war by himself and the letter from Magnolia most likely meant that he planned on an alliance with them._

 _Gajeel gnashed his teeth together, eyes averting from the floor and to his father. "You could take me with you," he began. "I'm a dragon too; I could fight-"_

 _He was cut off as his father's gloved hand rested on top of his head. He wanted to push his hand away and remind him he wasn't a kid anymore and didn't need to be treated as one but he just froze. As his father ruffled his hair; he spoke with a genuine tone that was so unusual it almost shocked Gajeel. The only conversations they shared were usually during training hours or when he was punishing him for fighting with Natsu; there wasn't much room for anything in between in their daily lives._

" _You're exactly like your mother." Gajeel wanted to snort at those words; he had spent his life constantly being told by everyone who resided in the castle that he was Metalicana's mirror image. They shared everything from their cockiness to their unruly raven hair. He knew next to nothing about his mother; she had died giving birth to him. It was one of the consequences of dragon mating._

" _Stubborn," he continued. "Couldn't accept anything she didn't want to; always found some way around it."_

 _Gajeel's canines ground together once more in frustration. "You said that it yourself this was a dangerous mission; so let me help if it's so dangerous."_

" _The reason I'm not allowing you to accompany me is because it is so dangerous." His father's voice had begun to develop an edge that Gajeel recognized as a warning and normally that was enough to dismiss any lingering argument, but, feeling strangely bold, he continued._

" _You could at least tell me where you're going. You've gone to war plenty of times but at least those times you told me where it was you were headed and whose ass you were planning on kicking."_

 _He had expected Metalicana to scold him for speaking out despite the implied warning he had given him, but instead his lips turned up in a small smile that quieted Gajeel quicker than any stern words could._

" _It's true, most things I share openly with you; I've never understood why parents bother to shield their children from the harsh realities that they will have to face someday. If anything, I consider it's almost like you're misleading them, but there are some things in this world that you aren't ready for, Gajeel. People that, if it were in my power, I'd never allow you to cross paths with. Some day, you may be able to face them but it won't be for many years."_

 _Gajeel's eyes reverted back to the floor in annoyance at Metalicana's reluctance to give him a straight answer, but looked back up when he felt him pull away. He watched as his father retreated to the back of the study and grabbed a large object that Gajeel hadn't noticed leaning against the desk. It was hastily bound in thick, brown leather which made it next to impossible to guess what was concealed inside the wrappings._

" _Catch," his father told him blandly as he tossed it to him._

 _Gajeel fumbled with the heavy object as it landed in his arms. Upon closer examination he concluded it was a sword judging by the weight and length. He looked at his father expectantly and after a nod of approval he swiftly unwrapped the layers to reveal a sheathed longsword. This wasn't one of the dull swords that were common weapons among the newer guards and the type he and Natsu had been practicing with; it was far too strong and clearly professionally forged. The scabbard itself was gleaming black leather with a golden emblem engraved into the center. A dragon with plates of armor replacing its scales and its head thrown back in an angry roar, but instead of fire, three swords emerged; the one in the center straight up, and the two others at a horizontal angle on either side of the middle one. This was Metalicana's insignia._

 _He pulled off the sheathe, revealing a cruelly sharp blade the color of night. He didn't doubt for a second that one quick slice could remove entire limbs from unexpecting bodies in an instant like a knife through butter. Despite its large size, the grip fit perfectly into his clenched fist; it was as if it was personally designed for him._

" _Igneel has one for Natsu. I can only assume that Weisslogia and Skiadrum have given Sting and Rogue their own as well. I'm not sure if my sister has given one to Wendy though; from what I hear, she barely allows her to practice embroidery without nearly giving herself a coronary." He chuckled as he folded her arms over her chest. "I've tried telling her eventually every little bird needs to learn to use its wings, but she will have none of it, apparently she feels as if her little bird can't even wonder around her own home without her accompanying her; she's a bit young for a weapon anyways."_

 _Gajeel smirked at the thought of his tiny cousin, who could barely force her canines to grow, wielding a weapon twice the size she was. She was a force of nature when she was angered but she was much more interested in healing than in combat._

" _What are these for? Not that I'm complaining but I don't think a parting gift is suppose to be this deadly." He looked up questioningly at his father, fully expecting a response. Instead, his father turned around, grabbed his satchel, slung it over his broad shoulder, and made his way out the door._

 _He was suddenly angry at his father for the unanswered question, but he knew when to keep his mouth shut; he wasn't Natsu, after all. He stopped right in front of him, before crouching down so their eyes were at the same level. Despite being tall for his age, Metalicana still towered over him at least twice his size. His father's hand slid to the nape of his neck; pulling his head closer to his until their foreheads rested against each other. As the fatherly act had him suddenly feeling much younger than his actual thirteen, Gajeel forced his eyes to keep themselves locked on the wooden floor of the study while his chest tightened almost painfully._

" _Take care of them, Gajeel," his voice rumbled in his throat, and Gajeel detected the faintest break in his voice._

 _Gajeel swallowed thickly. "Yeah, sure thing."_

 _Metalicana straightened up, gave his son's hair one last affectionate ruffle, and headed out of the room without another word; his arm was partially raised in a farewell gesture. Gajeel turned around to watch him leave._

* * *

Gajeel could easily tell that Natsu had started crying. It was impossible to not notice the sobs he was attempting to hold back, or the tears that flooded his eyes. Lily had attempted to comfort him, and Gajeel even rested his hand on his cousin's shoulder but it did little to help. After the worst of it was over Natsu began going into complete denial of the whole situation.

"He-he couldn't have d-died in an explosion," he choked out. "Explosions have fire and Dad's a fire dragon." He didn't get another word out before another onslaught of tears overtook him. Lily reached forward without leaving the chair to grab Natsu's arm and gently pull him towards him before wrapping his arms around his trembling shoulders. Natsu's hands folded into Lily's lap as he tried to muffle his sobs.

The weight of the entire situation was still settling on Gajeel, he could barely do anything other than stare at his cousin. Metalicana had said he would only be gone for two months at the most and it had been three months since his departure. He'd partially expected that something had gone wrong, but it still hit him with the force of an entire army. He supposed it may have been because every time he thought about his father's situation he'd ended up assuming the best; that Metalicana and Igneel would come back again.

Unlike his younger cousin, he didn't feel sad; he felt anger. Anger at himself for not finding out more when there was time or at least trying to follow them to wherever they were going, anger towards Metalicana for not telling him, and most of all, anger at the fact that even if he had followed him, it wouldn't have made a difference.

"Who was it, Lily," he growled. "Who the _hell_ did it."

Lily looked away from Natsu. "I don't know."

Gajeel clenched his teeth together before slamming his fist on the desk. "Don't give me that bullshit! I know Metalicana told you where he was headed! He must've said something about who he was fighting!"

Lily shook his head before turning his attention back to Natsu. "I can't tell you what I don't know; I'm fairly certain the reason your father didn't share it with me is so that I could never tell you." If he hadn't known Lily since he was a brat, he probably would've just called him a liar.

But still, the idea that any dragon could be killed was just on the brink of being impossible; and entire nest of them even more so. He knew that humans liked to tell stories about their kind; how it only took one man to take down a dragon but that just _didn't_ happen. An entire army couldn't take down one. The bitter taste of bile rose in his throat and he tried not to gag. His father had told him about something about people he was fighting were the kind that he had hoped Gajeel would never have to face. Was it possible that they were capable of taking down dragons? Did Metalicana know that?

He hadn't considered it then but looking back on this he realized his father more than likely knew he was walking himself straight into a death trap the entire time, and had never faltered for an instant.

* * *

 **OH MY GOSH IT'S DONE!**

 **You have no idea how thankful I am that it is. There's probably gonna be typos… lots and lots of typos…... but I hope you can look past them. I truly hope you enjoyed the long chapter and please tell me what you think!**


	10. Tears

**Sorry about the shorter chapter this time folks. I planned on making it longer but I kind of cut it in half because it seemed like a good place for me to stop. So the next chapter will probably be the second half of this. I'm really happy with all of the positive feedback I'm getting and I know I say this a lot, but I really do have to thank all of you gorgeous human beings for the kindness you have shown me and my writing! (Sheds happy tears) You're the best ya'll! I hope you enjoy the chapter and, as always, please review!**

 **I do not own the masterpiece known as Fairy Tail or any of its beautiful characters, that honor belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

Levy prodded at her potatoes with the end of her fork, separating the crispy skin from the white fluff underneath.

As soon as they had gotten back inside Juvia had a servant bring them lunch while they talked in her room.

"Is Levy not hungry?" Juvia asked from her place across from her. "Usually you eat whatever's put in front of you within a few minutes." Juvia had begun to eat her meals with Levy in her room while they both shared the small table.

Levy smiled sheepishly before glancing down at the food she had barely touched: a half eaten roll, a chicken leg which had been lightly nibbled, and a side of sliced potatoes.

"I'm sorry, I think my appetite is just getting smaller." She set down her fork and settled her hands in her lap, playing with the hem of her dress.

"Well I hope Levy gets it back soon, it was the only big thing about you." Juvia smiled at her, a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Um, yeah." Levy knew that Juvia was just trying to have a bit of fun with her, but still, she wasn't _that_ small. Even if Gajeel had called her 'Shorty' that proved nothing considering he was _way_ too tall. And it almost sounded like Juvia was saying that Levy's lack of height was the cause of her shrinking appetite; like it was contagious or something!

"I think I'm full," she said, pushing the plate away. "But thank you, it was delicious."

Juvia shrugged before taking a bite out of her own roll. "If Levy eats like a baby bird then you're going to become one."

"That sounds like a bit of an exaggeration," Levy smiled before pushing her chair back and sliding off. "Is it alright if I go back to reading, Juvia?"

Juvia opened one of her eyes, which she closed while she was chewing. "Of course, you don't have to ask permission, Levy."

But she did. It didn't really matter how much she was welcomed by Juvia and Natsu because she still couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't belong here, that she needed their approval before she did anything. Most of the servants had been kind to her, but once in awhile she would see a maid shoot her a look of annoyance. It was as if she was wondering what the little peasant girl was still doing here even after she had healed.

Levy left Juvia to her meal and closed the door quietly behind her. It took her a moment for her eyes to adjust, she would never get used to the dimness in the hallways, and wandered towards the direction of the library. After a few minutes a strand of cerulean hair fell out of her bandana and into her eyes, and refused to be blown out of her face no matter how hard she tried. On the fourth attempt her foot caught on the hem of her dress and she stumbled, wincing at the sound of stitches stretching across the fabric as she pinwheeled her arms to regain balance. She sighed and tucked the offending strand back into its rightful place in her bandana Juvia was right, she needed a properly fitting dress.

"They're gone. All of them, gone."

She straightened up at the voice, recognizing the rough deepness to be Sir Lily's. It sounded strained from sorrow and Levy could tell it was coming from a room a little ways down the hall that had its door open and light streaming out from inside onto the cobbles of the floor.

"That can't be, Lily; you're wrong. Or, at least, you made a mistake; they can't be dead." Natsu.

Dead?

Who's dead? And why did Natsu sound like he was crying?

She unconsciously stepped towards the door so she could listen further but hesitated. No, that was wrong; this wasn't for her to hear. She shouldn't have even attempted to listen in on their conversation in the first place.

She had to go down this hallway to get to the library but with the door being opened that put her at risk of being seen, and she definitely didn't want them assuming she had been eavesdropping. She spun around back towards her room, the library could wait until later. She hoped Juvia was still there, she really didn't want to think about why Natsu and Sir Lily had both sounded upset.

Still, it was impossible for her not to wonder; who was dead? Some friend or family member? Every step she took seemed to create another question she didn't have an answer to. She froze when a sudden thought danced across her mind: could it be Lord Igneel or King Metalicana? She shook her head at the thought, that was stupid. True she hadn't seen either or heard anyone speak much about them, but that didn't mean she should go jumping to conclusions! It would explain Natsu's sobbing, though.

She went back into her room to find Juvia still sitting at the table; finishing the last of her meal.

Juvia looked up at her and cocked her head slightly to the side. "What happened to going to the library, Levy?"

Levy's hand started fiddling with her skirt, so she pushed them behind her back and smiled. "Oh, I changed my mind. I wanted to talk some more I guess."

Juvia stared at her for a moment before shrugging. Her lips turned up in a kittenish smile, her deep, blue eyes gaining a playful spark. "Levy, do Juvia a favor and close your eyes and open your mouth as wide as you can."

Levy blinked. What?

As if reading her mind, Juvia stood up and grinned. "Just trust Juvia." She noticed that both of Juvia's hands were hidden behind her back.

She did as she was told; squeezing her eyes shut and letting her jaw drop. She could feel Juvia getting closer to her. Her hands, still behind her back, tightened on the fabric of her dress as she remembered one of her friends asking her to do something very similar; promising a wonderful surprise. All she'd gotten was a worm in her mouth.

She cracked open one eyelid and saw Juvia frowning at her. "Levy," she pouted. "No cheating; if Levy looks it won't be any fun."

Levy sighed and closed her eyes tightly. She felt part of Juvia's palm skim against her chin as she pushed something inside of her open mouth. An indescribable sweetness danced on her tongue as her mouth began to flood with saliva. She opened her eyes as brought her mouth down on the soft sponginess and revelled at the taste of the slight tartness that had been drizzled over the top of the delicious treat. The sweetest thing she'd ever tasted was apples from a tree that had grown in her neighbor's yard, and this treat was almost overwhelming with its flavor.

A small, quiet moan escaped her mouth, to which Juvia responded with a giggle. She brought her hands back in front of her, holding three small, yellow cakes; each looked equally moist and delicious. They were glazed over with a pale, clear icing that made Levy's mouth began to water all over again.

"A maid came by a little while after you left and dropped these off; they're lemon cakes." Juvia explained. Levy's tongue passed over her lips, trying to lap up any lingering crumbs.

Levy recalled one of the merchants selling lemons once a week from her stall. Apparently they'd come in a shipment from across the kingdom where Lady Grandine ruled over her cities. She'd allowed Levy to smell them once and they smelled wonderful when she pressed them against her nose but were much too expensive to purchase and one would need an entire basket of the bright, aromatic fruits to actually use them for cooking. Something her family could definitely not afford.

"They're incredible." Levy took another out of Juvia's outstretched hands and nibbled on it, trying to savor the taste for as long as possible.

Juvia nodded in agreement. "There Juvia's favorite, although the cooks haven't been able to make them for a while because Natsu kept swiping them while no one was looking."

"How did you figure out it was him if no one was looking?"

"Because there were several occasions when Lily or Gajeel found him in a corner stuffing his face with them and looking incredibly guilty when he was caught."

Levy snorted at the thought of Natsu, who she had no problem believing was in possession of a sweet tooth, hiding while shoving cake after cake into his mouth and coming up with some tale about how the treats had grown wings and flown into his mouth.

A knock on the door interrupted them, and Juvia went to answer it. Sir Lily was standing in the doorway; he looked as sad as he had sounded when she'd heard him in the hallway. His eyes were plagued by a cloudiness that made him look much older and tired.

Levy smiled shyly at him. "Hi, Sir Lily."

He looked over towards her. "It's nice to see you looking so healthy, Miss Levy." Although his words were all kind, they sounded strangely empty. "If you don't mind, I'm going to have to borrow Juvia from you for a while." Juvia's back straightened upon mention of her name, and she set the cakes back on a plate at the table and followed Lily out, shooting Levy one more smile over her shoulder before the door closed.

Levy sighed and walked over to her bed, pulling her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around them. She flinched when she heard Juvia's sob echo from outside the door. She heard it several more times before it became muffled, as if she was pressing something against her face to stifle the sound. Levy wanted leave the room. She wanted to open the door and throw her arms around Juvia the way she had whenever she herself had cried. She wanted to ask Sir Lily what was going on, and why everyone was now so upset.

Levy pushed herself onto her side, her knees still gathered against her chest. And, for reasons she wasn't even completely aware of, she too began to cry.


	11. Missing the Ones You Love

**I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. As my personal Christmas gift to all of you, I have updated every single one of my stories today. I hope this makes up for my hectic schedule of updates. I know it's not actually on the correct date like I wanted but I had such a busy couple of days with relatives that I couldn't wrap everything up and so maybe you can consider this as a late gift. Things are getting busy and I have exams after winter break (sigh). But I hope you enjoy all of my stories and if you're strictly reading only one of them, why not open up your surroundings and check them out if your interested. If not that's totally fine, I'm thrilled I'm already getting so much support but I always love hearing more. I wish you all happiness and jolliness and hope you enjoy the stories. And, as always, please review!**

 **I am not worthy of claiming that I own Fairy Tail or any of the beautiful characters. That honor belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

Juvia had been almost as completely distraught as Natsu. She had been the one to give Lily the letter, but she had no idea about what was inside. She had been crying when she threw the door open and rushed over to him; her knuckles turned even whiter as she grabbed the front of his tunic and balled it in her clenched fists.

"Gajeel! Tell Juvia it's not true; it can't be true!" she sobbed. He stared at her helplessly before she buried her head against his chest. He put his hands on both of her shoulders in an attempt to still her; he knew that ever since Juvia had started spying for Metalicana he had begun to treat her like a daughter in some regards, but he hadn't imagined she would be this upset.

Lily stood silently in the corner of the study, his hand rested on top of a sniffling Natsu's head. "I'm going to be trying to get a message to Magnolia for further information. If it is received successfully then we should have a response within two weeks." Gajeel nodded blankly in understanding, his jaw clenched as he grounded his teeth together angrily.

Damn them. Damn every last one of those bastards. He'd kill them. He'd send every last one of them to Hell. He would tear every last one of them apart with his bare hands until there wasn't anything left.

"What about them, those forces they were trying to defeat. They died too, right?" Natsu asked, tugging at Lily's arm to get his attention.

Lily shook his head. "I'm not sure, the letter only held details about your parents and other family. I can highly assume that they definitely suffered some major casualties, though. They would need a thousands of soldiers to have even a prayer of standing a chance against one dragon, and it's not possible to evacuate so many people in the middle of a war."

"So, until we hear back from Magnolia, what the hell are we supposed to do?" Gajeel growled, releasing Juvia now that she had calmed down slightly.

"We keep our heads, simple as that."

"So nothing," Gajeel snarled. "That's your plan!"

He had half a mind to head to Magnolia now instead of waiting for some shitty letter that may or may not even get there successfully. At least if he went he could get some straight answers about what the entire war had even been about.

"We don't have enough information as of right now to do much of anything else. If anyone outside of this room discovers what's happened to all of them it could mean chaos. It would be bad enough if the servants and guards find out but if this leaks out into the rest of the kingdom we could very well have our own war on our hands!"

"But isn't Gajeel next in line for the throne?" Juvia asked, wiping away the traces of a few of her stray tears. "Wouldn't the people be able to accept that there was an accident and now Gajeel has to take his father's place."

Lily sighed before pacing over to the desk and settling into the chair, one of his dark, leathery hands massaged his temple while he leaned over the desk's wooden surface. "It isn't that simple. If it were just Gajeel maybe it would work but we're talking half of the royal family here! They may be able to accept being ruled over by a young boy because they'll assume his older relatives will be there to guide him until he comes of age to resume the entire responsibility but to be ruled by a kingdom of children would easily spark a civil war and several uprisings. Not to mention it would be like an open door for the countries who have yet to make a claim to Kurogane. This may very well be the end of the kingdom if the find out that half of their monarchy has passed!"

"I miss my dad." Natsu whimpered before starting to cry once more. Juvia went over to comfort him by placing her hands near the crown of his head and holding him.

Gajeel hated this.

It was bad enough when Lily was right but it was even worse when he felt so helpless! He was a dragon, damn it! If he just went to Magnolia without a good reason it would be too suspicious, but if he didn't go then he wouldn't have any answers for weeks! When he had attacked Phantom Lord he'd at least had the assault on the village as a reason but Magnolia and Kurogane had hardly communicated before his father and uncle had left for war and were on decent terms. He could say he had business in Magnolia with their monarch but it was always his father's job when it came to handling other countries.

He crossed his arms, turning towards Lily. "So what? We just keep going on like there's nothing out of the ordinary and hope they respond before people can have a chance to think anything is up."

Lily sat up straighter in the chair and nodded. "As far as the servants know, King Metalicana and Lord Igneel have left to deal with a threat to Kurogane just as they have done countless times; nothing changes. And no matter what the situation becomes, it does not leave this room."

* * *

The two days that passed since then felt like months. Lily had suspected that they wouldn't hear anything for at least four weeks if all went well. They were all a nervous wreck: Juvia barely left her quarters, Lily's eyes had developed dark circles from lack of sleep, and Natsu's were always red from crying. And Gajeel himself had become so rigid with tension he thought his back would snap if he so much as stood up. His jaw was starting to get sore from grinding his teeth together, and he could feel anger and something else he couldn't describe building up inside and eating away at him.

He thought the next few days would allow him to calm down and try to focus on other things but, if anything, it made them even more hellish because instead of calming down he became more tense with each passing hour. He used to loathe the daily training that Lily and his father put him and Natsu through but now he felt like he desperately needed it. Anything to keep his mind off Magnolia and his family for even an hour. But Lily had told him the way he is now he could probably end up seriously injuring someone if he couldn't relax himself. He could feel it too, the strength that was pumping through his body; his hands continuously bawling themselves into fists. Metalicana once told him one of the most dangerous things was an angry dragon. Dragons were deadly alone but once a dragon had become consumed by rage or despair they became blind to any emotions but bloodlust and could only process the want to kill.

He had had a pretty shitty sleep; tossing and turning in an endless restlessness. He had ended up throwing his black tunic and leaving his chambers to make his way to the wall to wait out the last few hours of the night until the sun rose.

Leaning his weight against the side of the wall, he huffed a breath into the night; watching it roll from his mouth before evaporating within several seconds. Freezing wind blew strands of hair into his eyes, which he ignored while staring off over the walls of the courtyard adjacent from him. A thin scent of paper and ink drifted towards him before becoming lost in the wind; he instantly became aware of crunching snow underneath tiny feet as she shifted her weight.

"You're gonna catch your death out here," he leaned further against the wall. "You should go back inside."

"I could say the same to you."

He sighed, once again watching his breath disappear in front of him. The cold didn't bother him; in fact it was the only thing that was calming him down, but he wouldn't be surprised if the wind whisked such a tiny thing like her away. He listened to the soft sound of her approaching closer until she was just a few feet behind him.

"I-I'm really sorry about your father."

A shiver that was definitely _not_ from the wind traveled down his back; how the hell did she know? Cold panic snuck into him, wrapping its icy fingers around his mind; had she overheard, had Juvia or Natsu let something slip. Whirling around, he grabbed each of her arms and hauled her closer to him, until there was barely any distance between them.

"What. The. Hell. Did. You. Hear?" he growled through his teeth. She whimpered and squirmed, turning her face away from his as she tried to tug her arms away. He could feel her delicate skin bruising under his fingers and he slightly loosened his grip on her.

"Answer me."

She stared up at him, and he was almost taken aback at the fearlessness in her golden eyes. "I-I overheard Lily outside this room, the door was open. I heard him say something about them being gone. I left after that, it wasn't any of my business. And earlier, I heard Natsu crying and talking to someone; it was his father, I guess, and I heard him mention yours too."

He searched her eyes for a moment, trying to decide whether or not she was lying about what she knew. There was nothing but truth in those golden orbs, slightly laced with pain. He released her arms before turning around, his hands clenched into fists and folded over his chest. "He was a pretty shitty father, anyways."

"But you still miss him," she finished for him. He wanted to tell her she was wrong, but really, she wasn't.

He missed all of them.

There. He admitted it.

No matter how pansy-assed it sounded in his mind, he felt sad that they were dead. Maybe that was the unknown feeling that had been eating away at him: sadness that he would never see them again. Heat flooded behind his eyes and the tips of his vision blurred. Damn, he wasn't about to cry; he couldn't remember the last time he had ever cried and he didn't want to start now. For him, crying was like the ultimate weakness. Anyone could lie through their mouth and act strong but through their eyes it was entirely different.

"What would you know about it, anyways?" was his only retort. He wanted to curse at the slight strain in his voice that developed. Taking a deep breath, he swallowed the the thickness in his throat and his vision cleared up.

"I know a lot about it, actually. I lost my parents, too, and my whole village with them," came her surprisingly steady reply. He glanced over his shoulder at her; one of her tiny hands held and rubbed the area on her other arm where he'd grabbed her. He'd almost forgotten about why she was there, even though he'd destroyed an entire legion because of what had happened to her and her home. It felt strange, even though he didn't see her incredibly often it was starting to feel normal knowing she was somewhere wandering around in the castle.

"I suppose you would know, then." He turned away, his back once again to her. He froze at the feeling of small, soft hands slipped under his folded arms and laced themselves together around his midsection.

"It's okay to miss them. Missing them just means that you love them, and there's nothing wrong with that…." she whispered against the back of his tunic.

A quiet snort escaped him. "You've got a lotta optimism for someone so tiny, Shorty." He couldn't get over how much she confused him: he had just gotten in her face and hurt her arms and now here she was, embracing him like she had a few days ago when he'd saved her. Not to mention basically seeing right through the wall he had always built around himself and practically reading his thoughts. There wasn't much of an end on how much this little girl, this tiny, fragile thing, intrigued him.

He felt her smile against him, "I know."

He turned his head to face the sky once more; at the edge of the horizon, barely visible through the line of trees, a golden orb cast violet streaks across the already graying sky. For the first time for what felt like years, he felt his mouth turn up in a small smile.

It was sunrise.


End file.
